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| NOV 17 1926. 
fi Losey sen 
“BACK TO METHODISM 

By 


A 
DANIEL MINORT BAXTER, D.D. 


Manager of the 
A, M. E. Book 
Concern and the 
Author of “Chris- 
tian Tradition and 
Heathen Mythology’— 
“Bishop Richard Al- 
len and His Spirit”— 
“Has the Negro Freedom 
Paid” and other works. 


A. M. E. BOOK CONCERN 
Publishers 
63! Pine St. Philadelphia 






Mis 
hee 


Chapter XII, 
Page 
14 
21 
iA 
41 
4? 
45 
46 
48 
49 
82 
89 
00 
91 
C6 
102 
113 
183 


ERRATA 
Contents 107. 


line 27 
line 7 
line 14 
line 22 
line 5 
line 18 
line 18 
line 18 
line 25 
line 23 
line 17 
line 6 
line 5 
line 4 
line 
line 19 
4 


line 


lamented 

heroine 

in open 

Psalm 69:9 not 16 
Matt. 6:21 not 16 
trail 

andi 

Matt. 7:12 not 2 
worst 

believed, was 

its 

virtues — 

speedily 

undefiled 

ballots 

Romans 12:19 
Psalm 48 


Digitized by the Internet Archive 
| in 2022 with funding from 
Princeton Theological Seminary Library 


https://archive.org/details/backtomethodism00baxt 


«Chapter 


I. 


TY. 


IL 


iV. 


VI. 


WII. 


CONTENTS 


MARCH OF THE CHURCH—Noah; Abraham; 
Jesus: Apostles; The Hierarchy; Henry VIII and 
ENG m ETOLMACLOINy Sciatic th vats cee ani oty Geared feces 


ORIGIN OF THE METHODIST CHURCH— 
John and Charles Wesley; George Whitefield; 
The Methodist Church Not Founded in Ignor- 


ance; The Moravians’ Influence upon Wesley.... 


GENIUS OF METHODISM UNIQUE—An Ex- 


perience: Al Messace Ai Zeale A Spiritus. >. 


LAWS OF METHODISM ANALOGOUS TO 
THOSE OF THE UNITED STATES—A Repre- 
sentative Form of Government; The Fathers Had 
No Favorites; The Law of the Church Sheet An- 
chor of its Existence; The Itinerate System like 
that of the Apostolic Course; Methodist Zeal to 
Follow the People; The My'th of the Apostolic 
ISCUECION Kee tre cnt Or Su een Mn OM Cte we Mice ory | 


FAMILY PRAYER—The Head of every House 
Responsible for its Doings; Evidence of A Fami- 


wore ee ere ec eee eee ese eee ee eevee reseevezr ee ees eoeee 


CLASS MEETING AND LOVE FEAST—Sel- 
fishness Disappears in Class Meeting; It Is One 
Of The Landmarks of Methodism 


WHY WE CELEBRATE THE LORD’S SUP- 
PER—Its Anniversary: The Passover Compared 
With The Lord’s Supper; Methodists Should 
Prepare For Its Celebration; Love reast Pre- 
pares the Heart for the Lord’s Supper; It Rids 
PRAT Ctl Ore EO aie <i) Pe ela eee a ha eat Oi lace 


Page 


38 


47 


58 


Chapter 


VIIL. 


IX. 


XIII. 


XIV. 


SEEK INTIMACY OF FRIENDLY SOCIETY 
AMONG YOURSELVES—Friendly Relation 
Great Strength to Methodism; Friendship Re- 
ciprocal 


oeeeer err eve eee eee eee eee ee er eee ees ee eee eeees 


TEMPERANCE—Law Punishes After Crime; 
Religion Stops Motive 


oo 0 6 6 6 6 tle 6.0 v6 .@ 6 ae Ue 0 6s 6 ern ie ei8 


THE BENEFIT OF FASTING—Conflicting 
Agencies; Old Time Methodists Had Certain 
Days To Fast 


SOLAS © 8) Ore. .e 68 (0b 6.6 ee ee Gale ee) 6 6.8 wee 8 eee 


EVIL TENDENCIES OF TODAY—United 
States Government; Marriage and Divorce; 
Race and Class Hatred; Many Things Better 
Than Money; Imperialism; Pleasure.... 


ee 


THE USE OF THE TONGUE—Evil Speaking; 
The Body Made Up of Limbs and Organs for 
Man’s Health and Pleasure; Only Man Endowed 
with Power of Speech; Watch an Evil Speaker; 
Back to Methodism 


@] 6 1 [Re De we Je 0) 6 16-8) pice 6).0.49) 21 6.) DO LS 1a eo ee 


FIGHTING, QUARRELING, BRAWLING—The 
Great World’s War; War a School Master; 
Watch the Signs of Time; A Good Request 


Mec on ete 


BUSINESS IN THE CHURCH—Business' in 


the Spiritual Church; Backbone in Ministry; 


Official Board; A Few Rules; Business in the 


Social Church; Business in the Temporal 
Chrarclecd bik e525 Fee eres cs eee 


Page 


81 


17 


127 


Chapter Page 


XV. THE LORD HEALS BACKSLIDING—God 
Has His Way to Deal with His Creatures: There 
was no Voice From God for 424 Years; Trouble 
Brings Repentance; A Privilege to be a Child 


XVI. SOLILOQUIES ON BAPTISM AND ATONE- 
MizNT—The Tendency of Human Nature to Ex- 
alt the Sign ahove the thing Signified; Salvation 
not in Water, but in the Blood of Christ, The 
Cross Symbolizes the Wisdom and Power of God; 


BS Oye = wlemal od) 6, @. 6, 0116. 0.10) O. 6) 00. 6) |S OP Nelle 81,6) 6B e)-@) 0) 820) (@: O18 Fw) ole 16 (eo he Were. & 


XVII MUSING—Just Thinking; Religion; Music; 
MISES CONSITL eet oe WaRIern Wie a ei ake ante wt NEE BA Hath e the 


AVITl THE: PROOF OF THE!’ RESURBECTION— 
The Grandest Event in History; Truly He Did 
Live; Was He Really Dead? Has He Rigen: 
Why Prove The Resurrection; Results of Easter 
PO nere RN ENS ATA cw cn ela we Ne Weheat ee Rea oy 


XIX. —BULWARKS—The Great Celebration; An In- 
vitation to Examine the Shafts of the Pillars; 
Faith and the Bible Strong Pillars in Zion; 
DEE OOO DETOCe! ayn eum peed clin Beck TAM iy CURL, 


XX. BACK TO METHODISM AND PREACH THE 
WORD—Jesus Greatest Preacher, What is the 
Word: To Preach Effectively Must Be Con- 
verted; The Call; Minister Must Keep Well; 
Don’t Be Lazy; Don’t Cease to Blow the Trum- 


147 


158 


169 


183 


: 
VAR 


wt 
i“ oh 





FOREWORD 


The author having been brought up in a strict 
Methodist family—his grand father being a Metho- 
dist preacher—being used to Methodism in its sim- 
ple plainness, he became convinced in his soul, that, 
as a Methodist family, many have wandered too 
far from the genius and foundation of the principles of 
Methodism as it came forth from the minds and 
hearts of the founders and was handed down to 
this generation. 

Notice today, that the old landmarks of faith 
which used to gain thousands of converts to the 
cause, are slackened; that the means of grace, which 
once kept the spiritual fire burning on the altar, 
are sadly neglected. The private and, family pray- 
ers, the attendance upon class meeting and the love 
feast, together with the old time revivals, in a great 
many Methodist Churches, are almost obsolete. 

Our government each year offers prizes to Ameri- 
can youths who compose and deliver the best origi- 
nal essays on the Constitution. Those in authority 
recognize the great necessity of keeping in mind 
the instrument which has safeguarded the civil lib- 
erties which America has enjoyed for 137 years. 
It is highly essential that next to the Bible, the 
Constitution be the best and most widely known 
document among us. No matter how old we may 
become as a Nation, our perpetuity will only con- 
tinue as we revere the principles of the govern- 


10 BACK TO METHODISM 


ment as found written in the Constitution. There 
have been nineteen amendments to the Constitu- 
tion since it was written and adopted in 1789, but 
not one criginal principle has been changed. Every 
conflict or internal rupture we have had was when 
some set of self-designers contrived to set the Con- 
stitution to naught and to substitute something in 
its stead. The Nullification Act in 1832, caused 
President Jackson to send a naval force to Charles- 
ton, S. C to correct the evil, bringing them back 
to the Constitution. When the Confederates at- 
tempted to make void the Constitution in 1861, to 
divide the union, this conflict was again started 
in Charleston, and for four years a bloody conflict 
of arms prevailed, until every nook and corner of 
our comnion country was brought back to the Con- 
stitution. No attempt or propaganda to annul the 
Constitution has ever been able to draw the hearts 
of the American peop'e from the ark of safety in 
the Constitution. 

What the Declaration of Independence, the Con- 
stitution, with the Bill of the Rights, are to the 
United States of America, or the Magna Charter is 
to Great Britain, Articles of Religion, Catechism of 
Faith, and General Rules; Right of Trial in the 
Constitution of Methodism are to the Methodists. 
Methodism can no more live and keep its identity 
without those fundamentals, than can the United 
States Government exist as a free republic outside 
of the Constitution. 


BACK TO METHODISM 11 


When we see laxity in adhering to the landmarks 
of our faith as Methodists, we simply blow the 
weak trumpet the Lord has given us to sound 
the alarm ‘Back To Methodism.’ 

I hope none will misunderstand me in this plea, 
‘Back To Methodism.’ I do not mean that we 
should not employ the present day devices which 
the present civilization has given us, but I do say 
that the new devices should be employed with 
the same genius of Methodism given us by the 
Wesleys, Asbury, Coke, Webb, Barbara Heck, 
Strawbridge, Allen, Quinn, Payne, Turner and 
others, who went on foot, horseback, over moun- 
tains, into valleys and plains. They crossed the 
oceans, rivers and lakes, aboard sailing crafts, which 
took them weeks and months to make a journey. 
We can go in a day’s time the distance it took 
them a week to go, or in a week what took them 
several months. Don’t let us change and stop 
going—let us still be Methodists and go. Because 
the facilities have increased, we ought to go the 
more. 

I am indebted to Rev. John Wesley's journal for 
the inspiration (if there be any) which brought 
this volume. The Journal is a prize I won in the 
Seminary, which I have read and re-read, and each 
time I read it, I drank in more of the soul of 
the great founder, John Wesley. As he led me 
amidst the noble men and women of the Methodist 
Reformation, while, as it were, I walked with the 


12 BACK TO METHODISM 


fathers of Methodism, I found that they were 
wrapped up in the Bible, yearning constantly te 
gain perfection and win souls, that it occurred te 
me that Biblical text was used by them applied to 
every rule and practice of life they espoused. Hence, 
my idea of finding Scriptural Texts for every line I 
have used from the Discipline. 

Now, I must not forget my dear friend and ex- 
pastor, Dr. J. M. Henderson, who has reviewed the 
work and greatly encouraged me along literary 
lines. 

I send forth this volume in the name of the Lord, 
trusting that it will have a good circulation and 
a fair report. 

Now, if I have made any errors, remember [ am 
human, but I endeavored to give a clean breast of 
my conviction that we must go back to Methodism 
and be what we really are. Our faith has outgrown 
every other Protestant denomination in the last de- 
cade; but if a man can cut ten cords of wood with 
a dull axe, give that same man a sharp one and he 
will cut twenty or more cords with it. If despite 
our ignoring largely the Constitution and rules of 
Methodism, we have done so well as a denomina- 
tion, what might we have done with strict adher- 
ence to faith? 

Let us g9 back to Methodism and serve the Lord 
and our feliow man as our fathers did. 

D. M. BAXTER, 
Philadelphia, Pa. 


INTRODUCTION 


I have known Dr. D. M. Baxter since his early 
boyhood and have watched every step of his life 
thru his struggles, as an orphan, for an education 
and entrance into the ministry and his progress 
therein until now, and, to say the least, he has been 
zealous, studious and apt; not lazy, nor careless, 
but, painstaking; in all, thoroughly honest and re- 
liable from the smallest to the largest duty devolv- 
ed upon him. He has served in our Church from 
the humblest charge to the Metropolitan pastorage, 
and has been presiding elder, now business manager 
of the A. M. E. Book Concern and author of several 
books. No ground over which he has gone, but 
that the mark of achievement crowns the spot. His 
literary works have been well received and highly 
commended and now he has boldly challenged the 
critical attention of the entire Methodist Family 
by giving to the world in book form, his mighty 
appeal to the heart as well as the concience and 
intelligence of all Methodists under the forceful 
title, “Back to Methodism.” 

No one will deny that Methodism as an ecclesi- 
astical force, in the past, has no peer as an “En- 
ergetic religious element in the social develop- 
ment” of our nation. Methodism inspired the 
American Negro to his first assertion through a 
religious organization of his consciousness of his 


14 BACK TO METHODISM 


relation to all men as a MAN and a BROTHER 
and gave to the Race its first distinctively racial 
ecclesiastical organization based upon this truth. 

The growth of ecclesiastical Methodism has kept 
pace with the growth and advancement of the 
American Nation, but now comes the Rev. D. M. 
Baxter with a book the very title of which pro- 
claims that the vast and powerful ecclesiastical 
body of Methodism, despite its material achieve- 
ment and present attainments is lacking in some of 
the vital qualities to which it owes its Past success 
and present estate, hence his startling cry, “Back 
To Methodism.” I take great pleasure in introduc- 
ing this, his latest effort where he pours out his 
soul and heart to the Methodist Family of the 
world. 

Can this book call back to us or cause us to go 
back and seek the “strange warmth of heart” the vi- 
talization of our theology, the powerful demonstra- 
tion in our preaching and the influence that spreads 
like contagion among the people in the glorious 
day of the Methodism to which the good Dr. Bax- 
ter would have us go back? 

Let the earnest Spirit of this book touch your 
Spe a Ie we 

WW, (BECK Hi: 
Bishop of S. C., and Mississippi. 


Note:—This is the last piece of literary work Bishop W. 
W. Beckett did; handing the author the introduction 
in South Carolina a few days before his lemented death. 


BACK TO METHODISM 15 


CHAPTER I 
THE MARCH OF THE CHURCH 


Man has come into life in virtue of the breath of 
God in his soul. The source of his being is in God. 
In his origina! creation the soul of man had living 
connection and kinship with God who is a spirit. 
Having failen out of this fellowship, and lost this 
divine life through sin, man may yet find it again 
through faith in the Son of God, who came into 
the world for the express purpose of renewing 
men dead in trespasses and sins. 

In every age of the world God had men picked to be 
certain leaders and brought them forth at the right 
time. When Cain slew Abel and Satan thought the 
church had been destroyed forever, and that wick- 
edness would reign, God reared up Seth. Then 
like a gulf stream flowing through the ocean from 
Mexico to Winnipeg, this line prevailed in every 
emergency. 

This conception of the possibility of a divine life 
in man, in any man, is the highest tribute which 
can be paid to the dignity of human nature. The 
rich man and Lazarus, the savage and, the civilized 
man, the high and the low, the bond and the free, 
without respect of persons, are children of the 


16 BACK TO METHODISM 


one Father and redeemed by Jesus Christ and may 
come under the regenerating power of the gospel 
and be born into the kingdom. 


Methodism is a movement within the Church of 
God which is especially inspired by this conception 
of the possibility of the divine life in man. 


God’s Church has been on earth since the Fall of 
man until this present moment. Since Adam the 
human race here on earth has been made up of 
millions and hundreds of millions of distinct beings, 
each having a soul, a life distinct from all other 
beings. These myriads of men have lived and mov- 
ed and had their being here in this world in the 
different ages, under different conditions, in groups, 
families, communities and nations. But God is 
the same yesterday, today, and forever. To fallen 
man He held out hope, He gave a promise of re- 
demption. The Church of God came to be among 
men at the beginning and it is here today. From 
the days of righteous Abel until now God has had 
His church in the world. 


Refore the Flood, the Church seems to have been 
confined chiefly to the family of Seth. They were 
“the sons of God” in distinction from the ‘“daught- 
ers of men.” 


Enoch who “walked with God, and was not, for 
God took him,” was among the children of Seth. 
It is to the children of Seth that the Bible story 
of the Church is confined from the fifth chapter of 


BACK TO METHODISM 17 


Genesis to the Deluge, even beyond it, for Noah and 
his family were of the children of Seth. 

When man multiplied and wickedness spread in 
that the stench thereof went up into God’s nostrils 
and all flesh became abominable in His sight, He 
declared His purpose to destroy every living thing 
from the face of the earth. He reared up Noah 
and instructed him to build an ark, the pattern of 
which He handed down from heaven and told him 
he should have finished it, “Come thou and all thy 
house into the ark: for thee have I seen righteous 
before me in this generation. Of every clean beast 
thou shalt take thee by sevens, the male and the 
female; and of the beasts that are not clean, by 
two, the male and the female, of fowls also, of the 
air by sevens, the male and the female, to keep 
seed alive upon the face of the earth.” Gen. 7:1-3. 
“And Noah went in and his sons and his wife, and 
his sons’ wives with him into the ark because of 
the flood.” Gen 7:7. And there they remained un- 
til God’s plans were carried out and every living 
thing outside of the ark was destroyed and the ark 
rested on Mt. Ararat. “And he sent forth a raven, 
which went forth to and fro until the waters were 
dried up from off the earth. Also He sent forth a 
dove from him, to see if the waters were abated 
from off the face of the ground: but the dove 
found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she 
returned unto him into the ark for the waters were 
on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth 


18 BACK TO METHODISM 


his hand and took and pulled her in unto him into 
the ark. And the dove came into him in the even- 
ing, and lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt 
off. So Noah knew that the waters were abated 
off the earth.” Gen. 8:7-11. And the rainbow 
cast a beautiful sign in the firmaments that the 
world would never again be destroyed by water. 
Thus, God had saved His Church. Then, a new 
covenant was made by God with Noah. Another 
step is taken and man goes forth under the new 
covenant, but it is not long before we find him 
building the tower of Babel, trying to secure him- 
self against another flood making a roadway to 
heaven with human hands. God scattered them by 
confusing their language and they were separated 
into several tribes into different parts of the earth. 
After the flood the Bible of the Church is centered 
in Shem and his children down to the time of 
Terah and Abraham. 


ABRAHAM 


Away over in Ur of the Chaidees, off into the 
Mesopotamia, there dwelt a man by the name of 
Terah, who had a son born unto him named Abram, 
God ordained to keep the righteous line and 
His Spirit entered into the heart of Abram. Now, 
the Lord had said unto Abram “Get thee out of 
thy country and from thy kindred and from thy 
father’s house unto a land I will show thee: and I 
will make of thee a great nation and I will bless 


BACK TO METHODISM 19 


thee and make thy name great and thou shalt be a 
blessing and I will bless them that bless thee, and 
curse him that curseth thee and in thee shall all 
families of the earth be blessed. Gen. 12:1-3. And 
he went out by faith trusting in God, not knowing 
whither he was going, like a ship sailing under seal- 
ed orders, and came into the land of Canaan, where 
the Lord led him and where He would make him 
father of a nation, who, for multitudes, would be 
like the sands of the sea, or the stars of the heaven. 

Hence, came the great Jewish people, with Abra- 
ham, Isaac, and Jacob, their fathers. But Jacob’s 
sons allowed envy to spring up into their hearts 
and sold their brother, Joseph, down into slavery. 
However, this was God’s way to lead His chosen 
people through the hardships and fit and prepare 
them for the great work in the world, He ordained 
they should do. So that down through to Moses 
whom God raised up to lead the peculiar people, 
who went into Egypt an enslaved patriarchal 
family and came forth a mighty nation; hence, 
came judges, prophets, priests, and kings, and the 
religion of the one true and only God wielded its 
spiritual influence until the star of Bethlehem beam- 
ed over the manger and the Magi of the East 
brought their precious gifts, while the angels of 
heaven struck their harps of joy amidst the noon- 
day light which shone from heaven in the midnight, 
proclaimed “The Prince of Peace, the Saviour of 
the world had come.” 


20 BACK TO METHODISM 
JESUS 


Jesus, the mightiest of them all, not only a spiri- 
tual and moral leader, but foremost in everything 
for the uplift of mankind and the glory of God, 
lived among us for thirty and three years, pointing 
men to the principles of love, to the great rights 
of God, and the great rights of man—that is, 
the rights of God are reverence, obedience and 
worship; to man—right te life, to family, to pro- 
perty and filial regard. Jesus’ principles are seen 
in philanthropy, such as Howard, in “Prison Re- 
form”; Wilberforce and Pitt, in “Abolition of Slav- 
ery; Halley, in “Orphan Asylum”; and every right 
charity for the relief of the indigent and suffer- 
ing. 

March on General Jesus, Thy principles shall 
continue to spread upon the earth until men every- 
where shall acknowledge Thee King. 


APOSTLES 


Again Satan thought he had conquered the 
Church, after Jesus was put to death. But Peter 
James and John, and the valiant Paul and the other 
apostles who walked and talked with Jesus, took 
up where He left off, and preached the 
Word and wrought miracles and_ suffered 
like He did and reared up the patriarchs, 
who went on carrying the Word. Roman 


BACK TO METHODISM 21 


Emperors like Augustus Caesar, Nero, Diocletian 
and Decius, ordered all the churches burnt down 
and Bishops put to death, and Christians slain in 
every cruel, torturing, conceivable manner, all over 
the Empire. But the seed had been planted, and 
the martyrs, like Paul, whom they beheaded, John 
on the Isle of Patmos, the girl heirove, Blandina, 
and Polycarp; all of these martyrs were testimonials 
that God had His peaks to help bring the world to 
Christ which no power on earth could swerve or 
change them from the love of Christ Jesus and the 
inspiration placed in their hearts to proclaim the 
Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the 
world. 


THE HIERARCHY 


As the Church grew in number, the hierarchy 
was built up, because such metropolitans as Rome, 
Jerusalem, Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, and 
Pisa were advanced over poorer and weaker rural 
churches, and the council of Nicea approved the 
same. Rome being the most powerful kingdom 
during the rise of Christianity, dominated not only 
the weaker nations, but her bishop was, through 
her power, raised above all the rest of his peers. 
When the Greek patriarch of Constantinople pro- 
claimed himself universal, the Roman bishop toolc 
exception saying that, only St. Peter’s throne should 
be considered supreme. Hence the beginning of 


Le BACK TO METHODISM 


the split of the Church, dividing itself into 
occidental and oriental. This, together with other 
differences, between the western and _ eastern 
church, completed the schism. The eastern church 
believed the clergy should marry; the west believed 
in celibacy; the east believed in iconoclasm (the 
smashing of images and the hurning of pictures) 
the west worshipped images and adored pictures; 
the east, patriarchs were all equal; the west had 
bishops, archbishops, cardinals and popes. Roman 
hierarchy had reached its zenith through Hiulde- 
brand. During all of these disputes which side 
was right, infidelity, skepticism, agnosticism, and 
rationalism of most every kind and degree, togeth- 
er with the Mohammedanism sprung up to divide 
the minds of the people and to draw them from 
God, while the Church and clergy were busy seek- 
ing temporal power and political influence. 


LUTHER 


Up to this state of confusion and almost chaos, 
Martin Luther, the next picked leader from God, 
came upon the stage of action, when Roman Catho- 
licism had built up a dictatorship and dominated 
the world, both spiritually and politically, then the 
pope and his cohorts assayed to keep the keys of 
heaven and earth so that at a word, soul and body 
could be destroyed from the earth into hell. Mar- 
tin Luther was brought forth inspired by the Holy 


BACK TO METHODISM 23 


Ghost as he visited the vatican and saw the pomp 
and worldly glory of the head of the church. His 
democratic spirit revelled within him when he was 
required to pull off his shoes and walk upon his 
hands and knees up to Pilate’s staircase. And the 
words of the New Testament which he had been 
reading came to him, “The just shall live by faith,” 
he descended the steps and left Rome and went 
back to Germany with a different idea in his mind 
regarding the papacy and the Church. Not long 
after this, Tetzel was gathering money falsely by 
selling indulgencies to relieve the souls of the dead 
from purgatory, and bushels of money were carried 
from Germany to enrich the papal treasury. Luth- 
er took a stand against this abuse, and preached 
and worked, and wrote that only God could forgive 
sins and that the Pope had not such power. The 
results were that a mighty reformation like tower- 
ing waves upon the boisterous sea rolled over 
Germany and the people were brought to light of 
serving God according to the dictates of their 
own conscience, reading the Bible, singing, praying 
and praising God in their own vernacular. 

This wave in Germany rolled over the Rhine and 
flowed into France and John Calvin, another great 
reformer, became to his people what Luther was 
to the Germans, and Tyndale carried the spirit into 
England. Thus, the Renassiance (revival of letters 
and arts) when many discoveries and inventions 
came forth and much good was done to enlighten 


24 BACK TO METHODISM 


the world and spread the Christian Religion. Just 
about this time, Henry VIII came upon the scene 
with his artful cardinal, Wolsey, and it was not very 
long before Henry was “poping without pope” and 
the terrible break between the papacy and the 
English king and people over the divorce of Cathe- 
rine of Aragon, so that the king could marry Anna 
Boleyn. This was the beginnning of the Episco- 
palian Church of England, and Lutherans, sturdy 
Non-Conformists, Puritans, Presbyterian, Society 
of Friends, Methodist, Baptist, and all the other 
different branches of Orthodox Non-Roman Catho- 
lic belief, were styled Protestants. 


BACK TO METHODISM 25 


CHAPTER II 
THE ORIGIN OF THE METHODIST CHURCH 
JOHN AND CHARLES WESLEY 


We cannot conceive the thought of Methodism 
without first thinking of John Wesley, its founder ; 
Charles Wesley, his brother, and George White- 
field, their companion. In the year of 1725, Charles 
developed an unusual religious seriousness, while 
John, his brother, was upon his duty at fellowship 
at Oxford College. With a group of fellow stu- 
dents, they resolved to conform strictly to methods 
of study and practice laid down by the university. 

John became their leader, and the term ‘Metho- 
dism’ was applied, to them by the students because 
they agreed to meet three times a week for the 
sole purpose of inquiring not only about the secular 
learning, but also prayer and reading of the 
Scriptures and meditating thereon, and stating to 
each other how they were tempted, and how they 
were prospering toward a holy life. 

This continued, and instead of the exclusiveness 
which characterized their activities, they spread out 
and became inclusive, seeking the poor children, 
the sick, and the unfortunate, such as those who 


26 BACK TO METHODISM 


were out of work and needy, those who were cast 
in prison—and there were hundreds of such during 
those days. They obtained permission from the 
bishop, through the advice of Wesley’s father, the 
sainted Samuel Wesley, Priest at Epworth, to visit 
the unfortunate of that diocese, whereupon they 
collected what pennies they could from among 
themselves and from other benevolent persons to 
relieve them. 

There was a seriousness in the soul of Wesley 
which nothing seemed to satisfy; he thought of 
himself as a creature lost, and that the only way 
he could be saved was by a thorough casting off 
the world and all the environments thereunto, He 
got that idea of the ancient Jewish Church thar in- 
stead of its going to the world, the world was to 
come to it. Wesley thought that the surest way for 
him to seek salvation was to get away from the 
world instead of going to the world. He was 
brought up in a Christian family, by a mother who 
was methodical in the government of her house- 
hold, while his father and grandfather before him 
were priests of the established Church; his mother’s 
father, Dr. Annesley, was a non-conformist minis- 
ter. Thus blending in the minds of John and 
Charles an independent spirit, which like their 
mother’s made them think largely for themselves. 

King George IT, 1683-1760, was on the throne 
during this time. He played the role from a “deso- 
late creature to a shameless clown,” while his wife, 


BACK TO METHODISM 2/ 


Caroline, seldom conversed at court or anywhere 
else, without uttering some coarse vulgarity, shock- 
ing the dignity and pride of the gathering. The 
Prime Minister, Robert Walpole, who served King 
George I, ant was an e1emy to George II, only 
retained his portfolio because of the incompetency 
of Compton, whom the king intended to be his 
prime minister. But when he told him to write 
the speech which was to anncunce to the privy 
council his accession, Compton could not do it and 
applied to Walpole to aid him. The queen, Caro- 
line, saw this and insisted upon her husband re- 
taining Walpole as his prime minister. 

Walpole lived in opened adultry nearly all his 
eareer. Masquerade balls afforded occasions when 
all regard for decency was lost and nude flagrancy 
prevailed which neither the clergy could check by 
spiritual admonition, nor grand jury through con- 
demnation. These vices were prevalent among the 
rich and middle classes. The gulf of caste fixed 
between the poor wage earners who were paid so 
little for their labors that made them a gang of 
coarse brutal fiends—outcast without hope for 
themselves or their children—doomed forever to 
feudal slavery. Hence, they became  footpads, 
burglars, sneak thieves, while drinking gin so 
weakened the nation that the doctors of London re- 
ported over 14,000 cases of sickness, most of them 
fatal from drinking gin. Amidst all this confu- 
sion of vice the church which had turned to stone 


28 BACK TO METHODISM 


was unable to bring relief in its present form of 
administration. 

But this mighty peak, John Wesley, whom the 
Lord raised up, came forth with new evangelism, 
not to appeal to man’s fleshy self, not to his scien- 
tific knowledge, but to his heart where rests that 
germ of religion planted in the realm of the soul 
from the time man was first created. 

It took several years for Wesley to find himself. 
He went to Georgia in 1738-39, but at this time the 
peculiar personal faith and satisfaction he desired 
to carry to the world, preaching a heartfelt religion, 
did not come to him. He went to Savannah with 
a full determination to flee the wrath to come, 
rather than to carry the gospel to the heathen In- 
dians, whereupon his trip, as he explains himself, 
was largely a failure, and he cried out, “I went to 
America to convert the Indians, but, oh, who shall 
convert me?” 


THE MORAVIANS’ INFLUENCE UPON WESLEY 


The Moravians who had traveled on the _ ship 
with Wesley going to America, and Peter Bohler 
and Count Zinzendorf, their heads, wielded a pow- 
erful influence upon this founder of a new faith, 
but Wesley was a man with sound judgment, and 
analytical mind, and with a never weakening de- 
termination when right conclusions were reached. 
Methodism was born out of his construction, or 


BACK TO METHODISM 29 


what he felt would reach and alleviate the conflict- 
ing and stultified lethargy which impeded the pro- 
gress of the great awakening, leading back to the 
apostolic church ideas. 


However, his visit to Amsterdam, Cologne, and 
the Rhine to Marienborn, where lived the count, 
Zinzendorf, who gave him a wide view, not only of 
the judging the Moravian religion from afar, but at 
close range at home, at the fountain of their shrine. 

If Wesley had not been a man inspired by the 
Lord, he would have missed his chance to become 
the leader of the largest protestant denomination 
in the world. No wonder he said, “The world is 
my parish.” Not only was he almost excommuni- 
cated from the Episcopalian Church of England 
and denied the use of the pulpit almost everywhere 
and was more than once threatened with death, 
often mobbed, but despite all of these battles ot 
the test of courage from without, there was an 
inside battle, a more exacting test of faith going 
on in the hidden resources of the soul. The battle 
was: Should the Methodists be themselves as to 
faith and doctrine and polity or were the Moravians 
to swallow them up with the tenet assurance, or 
fluctuating personal feeling. Wesley fought the 
battle well by putting in juxtaposition his idea of 
assurance which he terminated in that Jesus paid 
it all. 


Being assured of this fact, he put to one side all 
superstition, and asked the Moravian brethren these 


30 BACK TO METHODISM 


questions: “Is not the Count all in all to you? 
Do you not magnify your church too much? Do 
you not use guile and dissimulation in many cases? 
Are you not of a close, dark, reserved temper or be- 
havior ?”’ 


One sees at a glance that the Lord was in Wesley 
making him a great leader of a people like unto 
Abraham, who would have no lords among them, 
all equal, who would believe that his church was 
not the only religious body in the world, but God 
had other sheep who were not of this fold. That 
the Methodists were to be plain without guile, 
frank, open hearted, not deceitful, but true and 
honest to one another, and all mankind in all deal- 
ings. The Methodists were to walk in the light, 
their behavior to be decent and bold, and to give 
utterance as they felt the Spirit. The Moravians 
to Wesley’s mind had a tincture of spiritual ex- 
clusiveness which smacked the pretention more 
damaging than the frankness that should character- 
ize his new faith. He was right in his contention, 
for not many days afterwards, we find the Holy 
Club meeting in Fetter’s Lane London, being the 
scene of an outright rupture between Wesley and 
Molther. Molther wanted to impose his doctrine 
of perfect quietism upon the entire society which 
was mixed with Methodists and Moravians. 


The Moravians were instructed by their leader, 
Molther, to wait for the Spirit in quietude and all 
active means of grace being the immediate gift of 


BACK TO METHODISM 3] 


God and that the “Reading of the Scriptures, speak- 
ing or exhortation, even prayer and the Lord’s 
Supper were means on which the soul might come 
to depend and so were not helps, but hindrances to 
the attainment of faith; while the confirmed be- 
liever was at liberty to use these and other relig- 
ious ordinances and exercises, but equally at lber- 
ty not to use them.” 

Wesley considered this doctrine a dangerous 
heresy. Notice, that there were two sects in Fet- 
ter’s Lane meeting house, the Moravians and the 
embryo Methodists; one led by Molther, the other, 
by Wesley. But heretofore, they had gone as one, 
but now, the purpose for which God’s hand was 
placed on Wesley makes him stand up like Luther 
did at the Diet of Worms, and almost in Luther’s 
language, said, “Here I stand, I can do none else, 
God helping me,” but to check what he saw in the 
Moravians as the heresy. In the month of July, 1740, 
Wesley rose in his seat on Sunday after love feast 
in Fetter’s Lane rooms, London, and read a Paper 
pointing out his differences with the Moravian 
brethren, stating that he had tried to convince them 
of their errors, but that since they could not har- 
monize and that he felt that he would be searing 
his conscience to go further, he solemnly declared 
that he would withdraw from communion with 
them, and all who believed as he did could follow 
him. Without another word he left the room and 
nineteen followed him. 


32 BACK TO METHODISM 


Thus, forever parted the Methodists from the 
Moravians, and origin of a separate and inde- 
pendent movement, the Methodists, came into 
being. 

God be praised for this movement; it meant so 
much to the world. It meant a mighty movement 
would have been stultified with clannishness and 
isolation and the spiritual activity and itinerate 
thrift which carried the gospel far and wide would 
have hovered in a tent of selfishness and inactivity 
But this did not yet clear away all the difficulties 
of the little gospel ship, which had many rocks 
strewn in her path and a skilful pilot must guide 


her out into the wide sea of denominational exist- 
ence. 


WHITEFIELD 


George Whitefield, a young man, one of Wes- 
ley’s bosom friends, a mighty preacher and one of 
the later members of the Holy Club, was a wonder- 
ful asset in helping to spread the new awakening of 
Methodism. He preached when only twenty-one, 
and gained an enviable reputation; Gloucester and 
Bristol were scenes of his first activities and 
thousands flocked to hear him. 

Wesley called him to Savannah, as he did his 
brother Charles, the sweet singer, and while John 
was returning, these young men went out, but Lon 
don heard Whitefield before he left and gave him 


BACK TO METHODISM 33 


thousands of pounds to build his orphanage. He, 
like Wesley, was soon banned by the priests of 
London and said, “If I cannot use your pulpits, Pll 
preach in open air.” Whereupon he went to Kings- 
wood, which we are told was inhabited mostly by 
the most uncouth and degraded population of the 
kingdom of England, those who never saw inside 
of a church, nor heard the pleading of a preacher; 
they were colliers, ignorant, lewd, who despised 
everything like law and order. But Whitefield, 
another inspired pioneer, believed in the gospel 
which says, “If I am lifted up from the earth, I 
will draw all men unto me.” He went out among 
them preaching in the open air on Kingswood Com- 
mon. At first, only about one hundred disgruntled 
and growling colliers came to hear him, but he 
preached with so much fervency, with such earn- 
est appeal, that it is said that tears made white 
gutters upon their blackened faces and their hearts 
were melted and the contagion passed until hun- 
dreds flocked to hear him in the open air. A gentle- 
man gave him the use of a bowling green in the 
midst of Bristol where he addressed eight to ten 
thousands at a time. But his heart’s desire was 
to carry this new campaign into London. He saw 
something which was revealed to him by inspira- 
tion. That is, he was inspired to preach in open 
air because no pulpits were allowed him, and know- 
ing that there were thousands of unchurched in 
London, he saw the field white with a mighty 


34 BACK TO METHODISM 


harvest to reach sheep who had no pastor. There- 
fore, he sent for Wesley to come to Kingswood and 
take charge of those he had gathered and allow 
him to go to London, and like John going as a 
forerunner for Christ, preparing the way, he would 
go before and gather them together and turn them 
over to Wesley, who had a keener and more gifted 
mind for organization. But, alas, a break must 
come between these two friends. The Lord is still 
purging to make a separate and distinct denomina- 
tion which would reach the common People, spread- 
ing to the end of the earth, and Wesley and White- 
field, so far as the doctrine was concerned, parted 
the ways. 

Wesley believed and preached the Methodist 
doctrine, the perseverance of the saints, free will, 
and going on to perfection, or in short Armenian- 
ism. Whitefield believed with all his heart in Cal- 
vinism, in the doctrine of election, for which he 
became more pronounced in proclaiming, after his 
association with Jonathon Edwards in New Eng- 
land. Wesley again asserts him self and stands up 
for his beliefand hence, the Methodists were purged 
of every contaminating hindrance, which was not 
its own springing forth out of the heart of its 
own inspired leader, the Methodist patron father, 
John Wesley. 


BACK TO METHODISM 35 


THE METHODIST CHURCH NOT FOUNDED IN 
IGNORANCE 


Some call the Methodists ignorant, because they 
give sanction or witness to the preaching or testi- 
mony of their brethren. They were never more mi5- 
taken in their lives than in such an idea. 

The founders of the movement came from some 
of the most refined and educated people of their 
day. The Wesleys were from generations of priests 
on both the paternal and maternal sides. White- 
field was an Oxford man. In fact, the leaders of 
the movement were all students in Christ’s Church 
College and sought the dest in secular and sacred 
learning. Wesley’s father, Samuel, was one of the 
first editors and publishers of magazines written in 
English. 

We think the reason why this slander of ignor- 
ance is placed on the Methodists is because there 
are certain churches which feed on proselyting its 
members. These churches never hold revivals like 
Methodists. That is, they never go out into the 
field and hew down the green timber and shape it 
into a polished shaft to fix it in the temple which 
they wish to erect, but instead, they wait until the 
rough work is done by the Methodist and other 
Evangelical churches and then they come forth to 
tell the refined timbers, moulded and shaped for 
service, that the thing which made them is not 
cultured or educated enough for them. Many weak 


36 BACK TO METHODISM 


persons believe it and send their children away 
from the old ship which carried their parents be- 
fore them into the “Heaven of Rest.” Lots of our 
children are proselyted through the carelessness 
of their parents. “A man without a creed,’ some 
one has said, “is like a ship without a helm.” Every 
one should be what he is, and it is his duty to bring 
up his children in his faith until they are grown up 
and able to choose for themselves. No one should 
let his child be brought up in any faith other than 
his own. 

Wesley lived in an age of great men, such as, 
Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) who dicovered the 
laws of gravitation; Edmund Halley (1656-1742) 
who discovered Halley’s comet; John Flansteed 
(1646-1710) who made a catalogue of the stars and 
was first director of the equatorial observation; 
John Mozart (1756-1793) the wonderful musician ; 
George Handell (1684-1759) who wrote operas at 
an early age; Eular (1707-1783) the German 
who wrote letters of physics and metaphy- 
sics; William Hershel (1736-1822) who gave 
the world the telescope; Benjamin Frank- 
lin (1706-1790) the celebrated American prin- 
ter and Natural philosopher, who with the experi- 
ment of a kite, 1752, established the transmission 
of electricity; Prestley (1733-1806) discovered 
gases; 1776, the American War and Independence 
of the colonies; the French Revolution, 1792, which 
stirred the civilized world to its very center 


BACK TO METHODISM 37 


and wrought havoc to caste and _ *royal 
tyranny. Gambol and Whitefield formed 
the Holy Club. This age was called the 
“Age of Reason” and the most important event 
during this famous period was the great revival of 
the Methodist movement, which not only required 
heartfelt religion, but tact and brain to cope with 
the situation and to do the world good. Methodism 
was indeed a spiritual force which spread not only 
in England but to the Continent and across the 
ocean to America, and in steady progress has 
belted the world from pole to pole. 


38 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER III. 
THE GENIUS OF METHODISM UNIQUE 


Methodism came into being at a time when its 
Unique Genius had a special mission to perform in 
the world for the benefit of mankind. Not because 
there were no other church denominations on earth, 
nor that all the good men had died, but as another 
has fitly said, “Methodism was not a new doctrine 
nor a new life, but to England then, it was both. 
It was Christianity Repeated in Earnest.” 

The fathers of the Methodist movement had a 
special inspiration to meet a special emergency 
which, at the time, no other movement, old or new, 
nor leadership, no matter from whom, was able 
to serve the special purpose and accomplish the 
particular aim. Hence the spontaneous birth and 
the phenomenon growth of the spiritual child of 
providential destiny. A deep and serious craving 
struck the hearts of the people to flee the wrath 
to come, as the Methodists spread the news of the 
judgment to come and presented the love of God. 
A revival of religion was born in the breast of 
every Methodist convert as he rose with a cleansed 
heart from the mercy seat. 

The fundamentals of Methodism are wrapped up 


BACK TO METHODISM 39 


in four cardinal Points, as given by a New Eng- 
land writer—viz: are Erperience, A Message, 
A Zeal, A Spirit. First, what does Metho- 
dism mean by _ experience? To experience 
the love of God in the heart so that the 
Methodists required those who joined them to 
bear this witness. “For with the heart man be- 
lieveth unto righteousness and with the mouth con- 
fession is made unto salvation.” Rom. 10:10. A 
change of heart was the most essential thing with 
Methodists before starting on their Christian war- 
fare. To every sinner, their slogan was “Ye must 
be born again,” and with this they set the world 
on fire. 

They believed in the mourners’ bench, where the 
sinner came with tears in his eyes and a heavy 
heart to confess his sins publicly before God and 
man, and there the Christians met him and built a 
wall of spiritual fire around him as they sang and 
prayed and entreated him to give up the world and 
let Jesus come into his heart. They kept him there 
until he experienced the change of love of God in 
his heart being justified by faith, and could express 
himself like Job and say, “I know that my Redeem- 


er liveth.” 
A MESSAGE 


Methodism spreads the news of the love of God 
experience1 in the soul and manifested that love 
with a burning message to the unsaved and care- 
less. Methodism, like our blessed Saviour, was not 


40 BACK TO METHODISM 


liked by the ecclesiastics and rich, but there were 
millions of poor, neglected, hungry, fainting souls 
overlooked by cruel traditions and customs of for- 
malists, who were longing for the message of love 
sent by the Lamb of God, who taketh away the 
sins of the world. The common people flocked to 
the standard of Methodism because they saw the 
bleeding hand of the Savior extended to the whole 
world through it without regard to birth or station, 
race or creed. As fast as they were converted, they 
joined cheerfully the procession to carry the gospel. 
message. All Methodists carried it, both ministerial 
and lay: they went not murmuring, nor complain- 
ing, but working for Him in and out of season. 
No distance was too long, no road too rough, no 
voyage too danerous; day or night, rain or shine, 
hot or cold, shod or bare-foot, they were upon their 
Master’s business. 

This message was in their souls and they deter- 
mined that it should ring out in clear notes into the 
ears of backsliders and sinners everywhere. Metho- 
dism was unique in that it had no money, its fol- 
lowers were poor people, it had no influence but 
that from above. It went crying, “Silver and gold 
have | none, but such as I have I give unto thee” 
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only 
begotten Son that whosoever believeth on Him 
should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 
3:16. And this message of Methodism was not in 
vain, the world heard it, yea millions in every land 


BACK TO METHODISM 41 
have been added to the fold. Should this diligence 
manifested by the fathers decline? Should we not 
keep and work with the same Unique Genius, our 
birthright, the foundation laid for us in tears and 
sacrifice? Let us hunger and thirst for the souls 
of men, rather than for what they have. This was 
Jesus mission to the world, it was the message of 
early Methodism, and it won in heaven and on 
earth. 

A ZEAL 


No one thinks of Methodism without first think- 
ing of the earnest preaching, hearty Amens and 
hallelujahs, its enlivening, soul stirring hymns, and 
fervent extemporaneous prayers, together with its 
zealous desire for the salvation of men. 

Early Methodists got the most of their inspira- 
tion and stimulation from reading the Bible, and 
upon their knees in their closets in secret prayer 
to God for His assistance to help them to live right- 
eous and useful lives, and to accomplish their 
deepest craving which was to lead sinners to Christ, 
In this way, their spiritual strength was renewed 
day by day. David said,(Psalm 69:16) “The zeal 
of thine house has eaten me up.” 

The fathers did everything in their power for 
the spreading of Christianity and Methodism. It 
was their special joy and greatest prosperity when 
they were in the midst of a glorious revival, when 
sinners were daily crying out, “I have been redeem- 


42 BACK TO METHODISM 


ed and saved from the power of sin and Satan.” The 
fathers had a zeal for converts, for they knew to 
get the man’s heart was to get the whole man, 
soul and body, time, talent and money, into the 
service of the Lord. Jesus said, (Matt. 16:21) 
“For where your treasure is there your heart be 
also.” If a man treasures the works of the Lord 
his heart is wrapped up in it and he loves nothing 
better, and puts nothing before it, to see it succeed 
is his first concern and last endeavor. 

The Methodists depended on the Scriptures and 
stayed very close under the shadow of its wings. 
They loved the Church so well that no duty it 
placed upon them was too strenous or heavy to 
bear. When the bell rang for services they were 
never too tired to go to worship, where they met 
the Lord and their brothers, sisters and friends; 
there is where they fulfilled their highest zeal and 
found abundant pleasure. 

Thus, the spiritual fire they kindled in the breast 
of one another lasted not only while in meeting 
house, but it went with them to their daily voca- 
tions, where they were ready witnesses for the 
cause of Christ. Their zeal to make their children 
obedient to law and order and to be useful church 
members made them good citizens and kept down 
crime. Their zeal to keep peace in the community 
made living there a pleasure; the experience 
or sthe ji love yor God, "any thew heart mmande 
them bold for Christ, for as the fiery zeal burned 


BACK TO METHODISM 43 


on the altar of their hearts, they proclaimed, a risen 
Savior everywhere without fear or favor. The 
message they carried was given double power by 
the earnest way it was presented to the world. The 
Unique Genius maintained in the highest ideals of 
the fathers summed up their zealous personality 
with a poise of certain heights plus a Godly yearn- 
ing to serve so as to make the faith a telling and 
marked success for the Master’s cause. If we are 
lacking in an experience, such like that which used 
to make our fathers bear witness for God, let us 
go to their shrine and be reincarnated with the zeal 
that they had, that we may speak out for God like 
they did. If the commercial age in which we are 
living has thwarted and silenced the message Meth- 
odism carried in days gone by, let us go back into 
the power house of spirit and zeal and sharpen our 
tools and come back into the same path over which 
it went, even if we do not have to travel in ox-carts 
as they did. Methodism of the United States is 
living in the greatest mechanical civilization in 
the history of the world. Night and day spindles 
are rolling and the raw materials of the earth are 
being wrought into useful articles for the comfort 
of man. From the iron ore great ships and river 
boats are shaped to ply the stream and oceans, car- 
rying and bringing commodites to feed and clothe 
the nations of the world. Then there are railroads 
made from the same materials belting the continent 
like a great network of nerves, making our land and 
country almost one continous city. While cables, ra- 


44 BACK TO METHODISM 


dios, telegraphs, and telephones put us in communi- 
cation with one another to the longest or shortest 
distance. Marvelous indeed are these great in- 
struments to facilitate business and pleasure. No 
longer is man’s progress impeded by rivers or 
mountains, because great suspension bridges have 
been erected and tunnels dug through the highests 
mountains; even a large belt of the ocean has been 
bridged by the East Coast Extension, and wheels 
of the speeding locomotives connect the keys of 
Florida to the mainland. Subways and elevated 
railroads are in most large cities, that the laborers 
who live in the suburbs from the farthest points 
can reach down town in twenty-five or thirty 
minutes. Sky-scrapers kiss the blue dome and 
make other cities in the air. Great factories and 
department stores, chains of hotels and theatres 
furnish sources of employment for millions. Large 
banks and trust companies finance these mammoth 
undertakings and tremendous newspapers and 
magazines feed the mind and tell one end of the 
earth what the other end is doing. The means or 
the propelling spirit of the age should give us 
the zeal of our fathers, that we travel in the 
strength of the Unique Genius of Methodism. 


A SPIRUE 


The last one of the four cardinal points which go 
to make up the Unique Genius is A Spirit. The 
founders of Methodism have been gathered te 


BACK TO METHODISM 45 


their fathers and in succession the fathers of several 
generations have come and gone likewise, since the 
Genius of the faith brought it forth, but one genera- 
tion after another has lived not on the exact acts 
of the other, but the Unique Genius of Methodism 
is the Spirit of it and must live in its midst, or 
Methodism will sicken and die for the want of 
that spirit. None will possibly be required to preach 
on his father’s tomb like John Wesley, or be com- 
pelled to preach in the streets like George White- 
field in Bristol and London, because all pulpits 
were closed against him. None may have to preach 
on a kitchen table like Jesse Lee in New England, 
nor walk hundreds of miles and cut cord wood, 
sometimes hungry and foot sore, rising to preach 
at 5 A. M. almost every morning for weeks at a 
time, like Richard Allen, nor to scale the Rocky 
Mountains blazing a trial to the Pacific like Paul 
Quinn and Thomas Ward. 

The Unique Genius of Methodism which impelled 
these fathers on to conflict and victory, the thous- 
ands of new opportunities we have today to press 
our claims for the Master, but we need the same 
spirit the founders had to do it. The job was just 
as perplexing to them in their day as ours is in 
our day. Let us have their spirit plus our modern 
improvements and we will do commensurately 
what they have done. They had hills to tower 
over and they were the peaks among the hills we 
have mountains to tower over, if we are to be peaks, 


46 BACK TO METHODISM 


we must be much higher than they, or we are not 
equal to them. If we get less converts and inspire 
less confidence, if our larger fields are less effec- 
tively covered we have failed. 

Their spirit, not the way they traveled, should 

be in each succeeding generation, if Methodism 
is to retain the Unique Genius of its standing in 
each particular age. This is the continued quicken- 
ing assurance of Methodism, the sheet anchor of 
our faith on earth and hope of heaven. Let us 
search ourselves and if we find that we are lax in 
the Unique Genius of Methodism, let us call a halt 
and reincarnate ourselves in its spirit back to 
Methodism, to life and prosperity, for it is life. 
The day that this spirit dies marks the end of 
the faith of the common people. Has this wonder- 
ful spirit started toward decay in this generation? 
Mr. Wesley said once, that after a hundred nd 
fifty years, Methodism would need a new awaken- 
ing or revival of itself. Are we in the midst of 
this prophecy? I do not know, but I do know that 
we have lost many outstanding particular denomi- 
national features which held together things dis- 
tinctively Methodist or the spirit of our characteris- 
tic Unigue Genius. 


BACK TO METHODISM 47 


CHAPTER IV 


THE LAWS OF METHODISM ANALOGOUS TO 
LHOSE OR SUNICE DES TATES 


A REPRESENTATIVE FORM OF GOVERNMENT _ 


The laws of Methodism are largely analogous to 
those of the United States, a representative form 
of government. As legislators are elected to make 
laws for the state, Methodism elects delegates to 
make laws for the Church. As sacred as the Con- 
stitution of the Umited States is held by tts cité 
genry, gust so sacred should the Constitution of 
Methodism be held by its members. The Presi- 
dent is sworn to uphold the Constitution of the 
country; the Bishops are consecrated to uphold 
the Constitution of the Church. Both of these in- 
stitutions derive power from the ballot box. There- 
fore, as long as the Goldeii Rule obtains, there 
would be no room for autocracy or abuses in either 
Church or State. 

The discipline contains the Articles of Religion 
and the Standard or Rule of.doctrine of Methodism, 
and the fundamental rules as to general superin- 
tendency; and in accordance with these permanent 
principles each quadrennium General Conference 


48 BACK TO METHODISM 


reviews and revises the legislative part of the dis- 
cipline. 

The only safe rock of perpetuity, for the Church 
is to obey her constitution and laws like the fathers 
did. Much disrespect for these become prevalent, 
the organization which is held together by them 
is in danger of disintegration. 

No organization can exist without some binding 
force which holds it together, and this force must 
not be coercion, but derive its power from the 
consent of the governed. However, every Church 
or Nation must have a standard by which it meas- 
ures a correct rule of living. 

Moses brought down from Sinai’s peaks the crux 
of law in the ten commandments. Jesus gave us 
the Golden Rule: “Therefore, all things whatsoever 
you would that men should do to you, do ye even 
so to them.” Matt. 7:2. 

We tell the hour of the day by the dial of the 
clock; we find our way out of the wilderness or 
across the wide ocean by the points of the compass. 
All of these instruments are standards for human 
directions and without which we are bound to have 
anarchy and chaos. These standards must be 
obeyed. 


THE FATHERS HAD NO FAVORITES 


The fathers of Methodism greatly feared the 
Lord and looked to and depended upon Him for 
everything they wanted to bring to pass, whether 


BACK TO METHODISM 49 


for their spiritual, legal, or social welfare. And, too, 
there were no favorites among them, whatever was 
good for any one class, was good for the other 
among them; what was bad and would not be 
tolerated from one class, would not be tolerated 
from the other. Their wise legislation and just 
administration was the pivot of equity, upon which 
they consented to be governed. 

If one class breaks the law, any other class 
feels it has the license to do the same. This is 
being done in some of the Methodist Churches to- 
day, and every such act, no matter from what 
source it comes, if not checked, weakens the body 
politic. 

One of the greatest temptations of the day which 
did not so largely enter into the minds of the fath- 
ers in Methodism was the desire for temporal pow- 
er, which is dangerous in the hands of any person 
or persons who themselves are not governed by 
the will of God. God’s will is the only right stand- 
ard of living; when it is thrown aside, we are in 
danger of falling into the hands of one of two most 
selfish extremes—autocracy or democracy. Either 
one of these tyrants is as bad on the people as the 
other. Under autocracy the worse abuses imagin- 
able have occurred, as bondage, oppression, despo- 
tism, duress and lost courage, hence, submission to 
wrong, and destitution reign; while democracy is 
just as bad as autocracy, the only difference is one 
or a few may be autocratic, while mobism is usual- 


50 BACK TO METHODISM 


ly the boasted democracy. The moment an auto- 
crat is overthrown, if the moulders of the new gov- 
ernment are not careful, democracy takes his place, 
and the leaders of democracy becomes a worse au- 
tocrat than the one they destroyed. Any mob takes 
license to pull down or-destroy; it is generally 
moved to such action by agitators, or discontented 
demagogues, who howl because they hear some one 
else howling, not knowing why they howl, and they 
carry things thereby into Bolshevism and Anarchy. 


THE LAW OF THE CHURCH SHEET ANCHOR OF 
ITS EXISTENCE 

The law of the Church is the sheet anchor of its 
existence. Obedience to it by all, regardless to 
rank or station, is our only salvation. Henry Clay 
said, “I would rather be right than President.” 
Moses said, “And yet, if thou wilt forgive their 
sins, and if not, blot me, I pray Thee, out of the 
Book which Thou hast written.” Both of these 
statesmen loved the cause they represented better 
than their own interest, even their lives. When you 
find a man who does not desire to obey the law he 
took an oath to uphold, under which he himself is 
protected and lives, but is full of selfishness and 
desires to fix unto himself such laws as would 
serve his own purposes, he is a secret or deadly 
enemy, gnawing at the very vitals of the govern- 
ment and threatening the destruction of the house 
in which we all live. 


BACK TO METHODISM 51 


Before the World War we heard so much of the 
despotism of the Czar of Russia and that the peo- 
ple needed to be free from autocracy. Well, the 
Czar was dethroned and killed, and the royal fam- 
ilies exiled, then, democracy came into power and 
the world today sees poor struggling Bolshevick 
Russia laboring under starvation, jealousy and 
hatred, a tool in the hands of the nations, an ob- 
ject of distrust and pity in the eyes of the world. 

What more reason has a surging mob to act pru- 
dently, with nothing to sway it than some impulse 
of fancied wrong heaped upon it? What better is 
it from an angry autocrat, or vice versa? Both 
of these are moved by selfishness, for under the 
delusion one of these extremes is as dangerous as 
the other. 

France agonized under autocracy for many years 
until the abuses caused her cup of forbearance to 
run over by oppression. Then a revolution burst 
forth like lightning from a clear sky and dreadful 
indeed, were the sorrow and misery she under- 
went. But did Robesppierre and his coherts remedy 
the wrongs with their guilotines, or check the evil 
with any degree of evenness? No, the pendulum 
of the clock swung back from the extreme of au- 
tocracy to that of democracy and as much evil was 
done in the royal families as was ever suffered by 
the Plebeians. Two wrongs have never made one 
right. 

Just a little before that period thirteen colonies, 


52 BACK TO METHODISM 


so oppressed by the yoke of England that they re- 
belled from the autocratic rule. But, notice, the 
cause of the war of independence was not that the 
American people refused to be governed by the 
laws of England, but England had left the princi- 
ples of her own righteous laws and had allowed 
selfishness and greed to make her become a tyran- 
nical oppressor, nor did the leaders of the great 
movement fall from one extreme to another and 
form a democracy as was tried by Greece and 
Rome and failed, but they adhered to just principles 
and formed a Republic. “A form of government” 
says Lincoln, “of the people, by the people, for the 
people.” The government founded by the fathers 
of the republic is a representative government, it 
is the means between the two extremes. 

In the midst of this terrible cry for democracy, 
let us stand upon the safe and sane ground our 
fathers left us and continue our representative 
form of government and cherish our constitution 
as the government stands and cherishes its. 

When a nation or society lives under good laws, 
it gives the people liberty and justice, which vouch- 
safes their happiness and substitutes arbitration for 
war, contentment for unrest, progress for reaction 
and love for hatred; selfishness is forgotten and 
statesmanship looms up into the breasts of suc- 
ceeding generations and sacrifice for the whole 
body is seen more and more as the organization 
takes root and grows. 


BACK TO METHODISM SS 


THE ITINERANT SYSTEM LIKE THAT OF THE 
APOSTOLIC CHURCH 


The itinerant system of the Methodist Church is 
taken from that of the Apostolic Church. The first 
thing the members of the infant church did after 
its organization was to bring all their worldly 
goods and lay them at the feet of the apostles to 
aid the sick, poor and unfortunate, and then, trust- 
ing God, they scattered themselves in every diree- 
tion, bearing witness and suffering for the cause of 
Christ. They had no thought of colonizing or 
pitching a tent for themselves where they could 
dwell shut in from the world; had they done so, 
they would have disobeyed the great commission 
Jesus gave on Mt. Olive, namely: “Go ye into all 
the world and preach the gospel unto every crea- 
ture.” Mark 16:15. 

This was the sole aim of the Church to make the 
disciples to put no other purpose above that—He 
who entered that army pledged himself to go not 
where he wanted to go, but wherever God sent him 
-—and He sent him to find lost sheep everywhere 
on earth. 

Membership in the infant church meant that 
one had to leave all to follow Jesus—that the Sav- 
iour having entered into the heart, His principle at 
once took possession of every part of the convert 
and controlled all he had, soul and body. So when 
Ananias kept back part of that he had pledged the 


04 BACK TO METHODISM 


Lord and lied about it with his wife Sapphira, by 
the word of the apostle Peter, they were struck 
dead. 

Love was the chief virtue which held these 
mighty heroes of the cross together. They thought 
of the benefits of the whole Church and not of any 
selfish gain for the few at the expense of the ma- 
jority. In fact, the Church was one body contented 
with the joys or the sorrows of one another. 

When many Jews were converted and joined the 
infant Church they brought their circumcision and 
ceremonies into the ranks, and very soon the 
Church was drifting into the old worn out tradition 
with Jewish discrimination. They requested Paul 
to circumcise Timothy before they would admit 
him to the communion, but they were overruled. 

God intended the Church to be an itinerate agency 
in the world. So that whenever it tried to settle 
itself down into a cloister, He sent fierce persecu- 
tions and scattered the members all over the world. 
In that way they were made to carry out His aim. 
Ever so has it been at every stage of apathy or lull 
in the spiritual tendency of the Church. Those 
who had His Word planted in their breasts had to 
proclaim it even if it led to exile or the stake. 


METHODIST ZEAL TO FOLLOW THE PEOPLE 


It must be remembered that at the incipiency of 
the Methodist Church, preachers were few. But 
so zealous were the Methodists to follow up the 


Lst 


BACK TO METHODISM 5: 


people that Wesley, through the advice of his 
mother, decided to allow laymen to preach and lead 
prayer meetings. It was not long before these 
lay preachers were interchanging pulpits and find- 
ing new fields, then as many of such who desired 
to change their relation from local to itinerate were 
allowed to do so, not without first going through 
prescribed rules for their conduct and study laid 
down by Mr. Wesley. Now, we call the same “The 
Conference Course of Study.” While our local or- 
dained preachers are generally aged men who 
function in their local churches and stay there, their 
age not allowing them to change their relations - 
to the itineracy. 

If we went back to Methodist laws, this rule would 
be strictly adhered to in all Methodist Church- 
es, and the old worn out men who had the bishop 
to put his hand upon him for local work, wcould 
never be allowed ta change relations as a good 
many of them are doing today. When a man has 
given most of his days to something else there is 
no room for him to become a successful itinerate 
minister. God wants the best that is in us, the 
best of our minds, the best of our hearing, eyesight, 
and the best of the utterance of our tongues. All 
of these faculties are stronger, while younger; the 
feet are more nimble, the hands are more steady, 
they can travel and endure to the end, that the 
work taken in hand might prosper and grow. Too 
many wait to enter the ministry until they are de- 


56 BACK TO METHODISM 


crepit and have failed in everything else they un- 
dertook. 

If we would go back to Methodist laws we would 
reject them and take only those fitted in body, mind 
and soul to do the Master’s work. This rule has 
not been regarded in so many cases. 

May the Lord, who has kept the Methodist 
Church in years that have passed, wake’ every 
sleepy part of it up and call them back to Method- 
ist laws which chief aim was not office nor earthly 
gain, nor pride, nor deceit to obtain an aim, but to 
save souls and to do good, and to spread the king- 
dom of God upon the earth. 

In 1784, just before the historical conference held 
in Baltimore, Mr. Wesley consecrated and set apart 
Mr. Thomas Coke to be superintendent or bishop 
of the work in America, and sent him in time to be 
present at this conference to, in turn, consecrate 
Mr. Francis Asbury to the same office. However, 
both of them were first elected by the brethren 
adhering to the law, before they were recognized 
as the first bishops of America, and the organiza- 
tion of the Methodist Church was perfected legally, 
with the power of authority vested in the annual 
conference to elect deacons and elders who also 
elected delegates to the general conferences which 
elect bishops and general officers. 


BACK TO METHODISM Vdd 
THE MYTH OF THE APOSTOLIC SUCCESSION 


Mr. Wesley’s life was fast coming to an end; he 
had lived to a good old age and had done wonder- 
ful things for the Master. Throughout all of the 
slighting and ridicule heaped upon him by the 
Episcopal Church of England, he never left it. No, 
he never left his church—but his church left him. 
He did not believe in many of the tenets of the 
Church of his youth, and it seemed, as if he had an 
idea that he would be able to reform the Episco- 
palian Church without leaving it. Among some of 
the things that he renounced was the “Myth of 
the Apostolic Succession”, he believed no longer 
in pomp and ceremonies, the method used by the 
high churchmen. Mr. Wesley had to deal with the 
common people and they needed a plain order of 
service without processionals and_ recessionals. 
without a long ritualistic service. They only used 
four hymns, rendered an extemporaneous prayer 
and afterwards, preached the gospel and held an 
altar service for the benefits of sinners who desired 
to flee the wrath to come or to reclaim themselVes 
from backsliding or to announce their transfers 
from one charge to another. 


538 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER V 
FAMILY PRAYER 


THE HEAD OF EVERY HOUSE RESPONSIBLE TO 
GOD FOR ITS DOINGS 


Prayer is the tallest shaft reared in the temple 
of the Christian Faith, because it at once acknow- 
ledges a Supreme Being. One in authority, to whom 
all creatures must look for the things they need for 
the body, mind and soul. Prayer is meditation of 
the soul uttered or unexpressed in confession, 
supplication, intercession and thanksgiving, when 
one unburdens himself before a merciful Father, 
beseeching Him for courage to help reach any 
righteous goal. Devout Christians pray to God 
through the Lord Jesus Christ. They believe in 
God, the Father, and His Son, their Saviour, with 
the Holy Ghost, the only true and living God. They 
believe that God has power to inflict punishment for 
sin, hence, they make confession and beg forgive- 
ness. Because the Christians believe in God, they 
believe in the law. There could be no law without 
a law giver, and there can be no law giver without 
the power to enforce the law given. If there were 
no law then there is no need of forgiveness, nor 


BACK TO METHODISM 59 


fear of punishment. Such is the logical conclusion 
of those who do not pray, whether they utter it in 
the terms of indifference or infidelity, they mean 
the same thing; when they fail to confess their 
sins and ask forgiveness for them, they do not make 
intercession for those depending on them, or give 
thanks for the blessings they enjoy from the boun- 
teous hand of God. 

The head of every house is responsible for the 
doings in it. He who fails to rear an altar where 
the family is led daily to worship is doing an in- 
justice to the offsprings God has given him, whom 
he should send forth to God’s greater altar and 
larger service true and respectable citizens. 

Family prayer has more power in it for stability 
of the home than anything else. It keeps down 
disagreement and keeps concord from day to day. 
Its example for the children is the beginning and 
a moulder of good character, and a pious and godly 
life. No Methodist home should be without family 
prayer. Our fathers found time for this splendid 
instrument of spiritual grace. They arose early 
in the morning, sometimes before sunrise, and 
awoke all the family and poured out their hearts 
asking God for protection during the day and in 
thanksgiving and intercession for health and 
strength, for food, raiment and shelter. If the 
father had an occasion to be away, the mother 
took his place and the altar in the home was never 
torn down. It is a blessed thing in after years, 


60. BACK TO METHODISM 


when one’s locks are hoary and his limbs are feeble, 
he can look upon his grown children and 
hear them say, “My parents led us to a throne of 
grdce all our days and we are not strangers to 
prayer.” Family prayer was never neglected by 
old time Methodists, and never neglected by the 
minister or the class leader who came into the home 
to visit. During the old days of Methodism, to see 
one of these cross-bearers enter the threshold of 
the door meant that the parents would gather the 
children into the parlor, and after a delightful dis- 
cotirse upon things religious and the reading of 
God’s Word, the family altar was approached and 
the intercessionary prayers were offered for bless- 
ings from heaven to rest upon the home and in- 
mates. In those days preachers and class leaders 
truly went to carry the good news of the gospel 
méssage into the homes. Idle conversations were 
never thought of, peace and love were their slogans; 
their hearts poured out their errand and when they 
caitie away the family was built up spiritually and 
the neighborhood was a blaze of religious fire. 
There is a wood down south called loblolly pine. 
It has a thick flaky bark and a skin between the 
bark and the tree. It is water absorbed through 
and through and it does not burn readily. You can 
pour kerosene or gasoline on it and light it, and 
the oil will burn off the wood scarcely touched. by 
the flames. It will put out almost any ordinary 
fire ina grate or a stove. When put into a furnace, 


BACK TO METHODISM 61 


it will nearly melt away to ashes without giving 
out much heat. 


EVIDENCE OF FAMILY PRAYER 


You can tell very easily at the Church services 
those who have a family altar at home, they do not 
come to Church depending on some one else in or- 
der to enjoy the services, they bring something to 
add to that already there. So is the heart of the 
man who is not attune with God through prayer. He 
may go to services, hear the gospel, hear others 
sing and pray, but he will not be responsive to the 
spiritual atmosphere around him. He cannot catch 
fire, he will not burn; he is a loblolly soul. 

Prayer mellows the heart. It touches the foun- 
tain of the soul; it reaches the deepest human sym- 
pathy and joins the mind to heaven. Prayer melts 
anger; it scatters deceit; it tunes the tongue to 
songs of pathos and strikes in the soul harps of 
joy. Prayer is a friend when all other friends for- 
sake you, because it is the very key which opens 
the gates of heaven. When a family kneels in 
prayer, its desire goes up to God on high like a 
sweet smelling savor. 

Let us go back to Methodism and tumble down 
every altar of the strange gods we have erected 
in our homes, and like Joshua, find Achan’s hidden 
wedge and remove it; like Josiah, tear down every 
altar of idolatry. 


62 BACK TO METHODISM 


We have tried education to make the world 
better, but we find that education alone cannot do 
the work. Some scientists of today, as in days gone 
by, are trying to explain away some of the essen- 
tials of the Word of God, to replace them with a 
lot of uncertainties and guesses. The Bible is true 
and teaches things religious; it presents in the Ten 
Commandinents and the Beatitudes, the better code 
of law for the practice of life and well being, than 
the twelve tables of Rome or the codes of ethics 
given by any of the philosophers who tried but 
failed to give man a rule of life. 

Prayer, family prayer, was used by Jesus; He 
prayed for His little family. His prayer purged 
the twelve and separated the good from the bad 
among them. He lost one, but the prayer of the 
eleven razed kingdoms to the ground, overcame 
and dethroned emperors and kings. Let us con- 
tinue to pray, “Let Thy will be done on earth as it 
is in heaven.” 

We close this meditation on Family Prayer with 
these recommendations: pray once a day at least 
with your family, aside from your private devo- 
tions, if possible, if not, designate some one to take 
your place, the wife should be that one if the chil- 
dren are small. Be sure to have prayer Sunday 
morning, there is nothing like the touch of one an- 
other around the family altar. When we say pray 
it is understood we mean a short worship, i. e., an 
appropriate Scripture Lesson before prayer. 


BACK TO METHODISM 63 


“And now, O Lord, our heavenly Father, as we 
send forth this plea for reestablishment of the 
family altar in the home, grant that Thy approval 
will go with this volume and that whoever reads 
it will take its admonition unto him or herself, and 
from this very day resolve in the heart that in con- 
cert at the family altar, they will lift up their 
voices unto Thee, who is our Father, the Giver and 
Preserver of our lives and all we have. We ask 
all this in the name of Jesus, our Mediator and 
Redeemer. Amen.” 


64 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER VI 
THE CLASS MEETING AND LOVE FEAST 


These are two of the most important means of 
grace in the Methodist Church. The class meeting 
primarily came into existence in 1729 to give an 
opportunity to its members to tell one another of 
their trials and temptations, and of their successes 
and their failures, or in other words, to confess 
their sins to one another and tell how they con- 
quered and grew stronger in grace. At first it had 
only a small group, viz.: Charles Wesley, Robert 
Morgan, and Robert Kirkham, with one who was 
styled leader to supervise the affairs of the meet- 
ing. This place they gave to John Wesley who 
had returned to the college as tutor. This little 
membership soon grew to twenty-nine with such 
strong men as George Whitefield, James Harvey 
and John Clayton among them. These young men ~ 
met three times a week “to read over classics and 
on Sunday some book in Divinity,” and improve 
themselves both in sacred and secular learning. 
Many times members of this “Holy Club” met de- 
spondent, but after they had encouraged one an- 
other through fellowship they came forth from the 
class meeting with hearts ablaze, kindled with the 


BACK TO METHODISM 65 


fire of assurance by the words they heard from the 
lips of one another. This first order of things was 
all good but all selfish. Its only benefit tended to- 
wards helping those who allied themselves together 
to go through school as recluses and no deeper sig- 
nificance was placed on the movement from the 
outside than that it received the application of the 
term ‘Methodist’ from their fellow students. 


SELFISHNESS DISAPPEARS IN CLASS MEETING 


However, it was not long before the spirit of 
selfishness disappeared and the class meeting was 
not only made a source of spiritual and intellectual 
benefits for themselves, but the influence spread 
out working from within, and we find the young 
men bringing pennies to class meeting to help the 
city’s sick and poor, and relieve many of the un- 
fortunate who were cast into prison for trifling 
debts. They went into the streets and collected 
what they could from philanthropic persons to help 
them in the widening of their work of benevolences 
which they then operated by the consent of the 
bishop of the diocese. Robert Morgan was the 
guiding star in the benevolent movement which is 
one of the highest towers in the temple of Method- 
ism, for he invited the Wesleys to go with him to 
the jails and do what they could for the prisoners 
and to see the sick and poor of the city. This turned 
their eyes from themselves to others, and that 


66 BACK TO METHODISM 
spirit has caused the Methodists to become the 
largest protestant body in the world. We con- 
clude, then, that Morgan’s share in Methodism was 
to break the reclusive spirit from which its found- 
ers suffered at first and to lead them out into the 
broad constitution of the church the brotherhood 
of all mankind without regard to race or station. 
The class meeting of the Methodist Church his- 
torically sprang from the Bristol Society, 1742, 
when they were discussing their ways and means 
to lift the debt from their temple. A member pro- 
posed that each communicant bring a penny to the 
evening class meeting each week for or from each 
member. Mr. Wesley said “It struck me immediate- 
ly, this is the very thing we wanted so long,” and 
he called together certain ones whom he after- 
wards styled class leaders and put them in charge 
of little flocks making them responsible to the body 
for the behaviour of those under them and also to 
collect and report once a week what pennies they 
received for the cause. Hence the class meeting. 


IT IS ONE OF THE LANDMARKS OF METHODISM 


Don’t let us leave the old landmark of our faith, 
the class meeting, for it is one of the most reviving 
means of grace to be found in the tenets. 

Man is a communicative being, he is not reticent 
he likes to talk, he will talk, he is bound to tell some 
one of his affairs whether they are pleasant or un« 


BACK TO METHODISM 67 


pleasant; whether the person he tells is true or 
false to his confidence, it gives him relief to un- 
bosom his soul. Many persons would have been 
saved from the clutches of satan if they had only 
some righteous confidential person to whom they 
could have poured out their hearts when the tests 
of trials pressed heaviest upon them. See the poor 
girl standing on the brink of deception, down at the 
water’s edge, when just one word seasoned with 
the godly spirit would give her new zeal and fresh 
courage to stand untarnished. But she does not 
know where to get it. She was brought up a Meth- 
odist, but her parents did not like class meeting, 
hence, she drifted away yearning for a friend, off 
into prostitution and ruin. 

A man who could scarcely keep himself tells ir 
the class meeting of the evil tendencies which were 
fast engulfing him, and the leaders reproved him 
in righteous admonition calling to his remembran- 
ces his conversion and covenant to follow Jesus, 
which causes him to collect himself and change his 
ruinous course. This once firm believer was get- 
ting weak and was about to backslide. The sweet 
songs of Zion were no longer tuneful to his ears; 
the preaching of the Word had lost its charm to 
him. But when he went back to the class meeting 
from which he had absented himself—where every 
one can raise the tune of his heart’s desire, or lead 
in prayer out of the fullness of his own soul, and 
gives his own testimony as the spirit directs and 


68 BACK TO METHODISM 


hear those of others charged with the holy fire 
burning all around them. When he sees the tears 
and hears the groans and hallelujahs and amens as 
the class leaders listen to the trials and victories oi 
his fellow travelers and in turn, as the spirit gives 
him utterance sends back inspired words which 
Jesus gives into the ears which is a balm to heal 
every affliction, a palm of victory for every moun- 
tain climbed, while the ring of triumph resounds 
and fills the class room with a pentecostal shower. 
The old time Methodists had a burning desire for 
the class meeting, because it was the place where 
not only their spiritual but social greetings were 
exchanged which satisfied them and taking the 
places of the pleasures nowadays which are most 
frivolous and dangerous to the soul. How sweet 
the brotherly and sisterly hearty handshakes, and 
the exchange of those tender words, “God speed 
your journey” until we meet at class next week 
(D. V.) They warm the heart with zeal for God and 
with love for our fellow man and deepen the de- 
termination to be a good true Methodist. No class 
meeting can be much if the pastor does not attend. 
He is the burning light for his members, a drawing 
card of punctual service to the leaders. God grant 
that Methodist ministers will insist on the class 
meeting in their charges everywhere. 


BACK TO METHODISM 69 


i 
LOVE FEAST PREPARES THE HEART FOR THE 
LORD’S SUPPER 


Shortly after Jesus finished His labors on earth 
and ascended up on high, the apostles, whom He 
left down here to carry out His mandates, began 
to put His principles into vogue. They met in that 
upper chamber at Jerusalem singing and praying 
for forty days, because the Saviour had ordered 
them to tarry there until they were indued with 
power from on high, before they attempted to be- 
gin their mission to preach the death and resurrec- 
tion of the Saviour and redemption thereby to a 
lost world. When the fire of heaven came down 
and consumed all the hatred and malice in the apos- 
tles’ hearts, they caught the spirit of Jesus Christ 
for the first time and understood what they had 
heard Him say on the cross, “Father forgive them 
for they know not what they do.” Peter went 
down into the streets of Jerusalem and preached 
of forgiveness and love, and three thousand souls 
were pricked to their hearts with shame and ac- 
knowledged that they had helped kill the innocent 
Lamb of God, so that they were converted and 
joined the Church and began to help spread the 
gospel. The disciples met daily in dividing them- 
selves up into groups teaching in several houses in 
the city where they did spiritual work and enjoyed 
a common meal styled ‘agape’ or love feast. This 
meal always preceded the Lord’s Supper, or in 


70 BACK TO METHODISM 

other words, it was a kind of porch or a place tos 
get ready to enter the main body of the house. The 
old time Methodists used to have love feast tickets 
or cards of clearance to enter the services showing 
that the members were at peace with the world. 
No one went to the love feast table with malice in 
his heart. If persons were not on good terms or 
were not speaking to one another their class leaders 
would be the peacemakers and the sores would 
be healed for the love feast so that they could go 
into the congregation at peace with all mankind 
and be a witness for Jesus and cleanse the heart 
of every iota of sin and wrong against the neigh- 
bors. Remember, this forgiving spirit came with 
religion of the Lord Jesus Christ’ the Jewisk. 
religion, from Moses down, “was an eye for an 
eye, and a tooth for a tooth”. Jesus said, Matt. 
6:39, “But, I say unto you that ye resist not evil, 
but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, 
turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue 
thee at the law and take thy coat, let him have 
thy cloak also”. If he abuse and rebuke you, don’t 
rail for rail but give kindness for such and you 
heap coals of fire on his head”. The love feast is 
the genius of the Saviour’s spirit which is to con- 
quer the world. 


IT HELPS TO RID MEN OF THE EGO 


For thousands of years the ego of man had, been 
filling graves with the spirit of revenge and hatred 


BACK TO METHODISM 7\ 


—and there was no voice to call him back from 
his egotistic, malicious, destructive way. Before 
Jesus came to earth men sat with a chip on their 
shoulders to see who would offend them and then 
the feud began, the fight never ended until death 
and destruction brought it to a close; no one knew 
how to amicably settle differences. The voice of 
Stephen cried when he was being stoned to death, 
“Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, was the 
echo of that of Jesus on the cross when He said, 
“Father forgive them they know not what they do” 
was the strongest trumpet blown in Israel since the 
nation was founded and the ten commandments 
‘were handed to Moses from Mt. Sinai. 

If more of the forgiving spirit of Christ was 
manifested in the individual, the family and the 
nation, there would be less murders, divorces and 
wars would cease. The Methodists indeed have 
the plan. God was in the founders’ hearts when 
they conceived the ancient landmark. Stay on 
board the old ship they have launched for us amidst 
many sorrows and affliction, she sails on the seas 
of the world’s changing ideas of God and religion 
but she never changes her course. The love feast 
is a particular means of grace, which counts so 
much to the peace and prosperity of the Church and 
community. When there is strife in a charge noth- 
ing of real value can be done; satan is the father 
of strife, he fans up every little mistake into a 
blaze of fury and pricks the pride of the offended 


72 BACK TO METHODISM 


and hardens the heart of the one who gave the 
offense not to yield one to the other. We often in 
our lives hear people say “Before I will ask his 
pardon, I will die and be lost;” while others say 
“T will never speak to him or her first”. We of 
ourselves without the grace of God through con- 
version can do nothing which requires the humili- 
ation of our pride, but the Methodist love feast is 
for that very thing, it strips the converted person 
of self and shows him the foolishness of his arro- 
gance by calling him back to the time when he 
promised his Saviour to bear the cross through 
evil report as well as good report. The love feast 
is a useful place to read the rules of the Methodist 
society to the people and acquaint them with the 
doctrine and policy of the Church. 


If we went back to Methodism we would take 
the advantage of all these benefits left us by the 
. fathers. No man can wear another man’s shoes 
excepting he wears the same size. Then the only 
persons we can successfully pattern after are Meth- 
odists, because we wear the same size shoes. When 
we bring in other men’s tenets and polities not 
Methodist and try to fit them into our mechanism, 
we warp the whole machine and make a botch of 
the entire affair. We find many who claim they 


are modern, using all sorts of isms and not enough 
Methodism. 


BACK TO METHODISM 73 


CHAPTER VII 
WHY WE CELEBRATE THE LORD’S SUPPER 
IT’S ANNIVERSARY 


“And it shall come to pass when your children 
shall say unto you, what mean ye by this service? 
That ye shall say, it is a sacrifice of the Lord’s 
passover, who passed over the houses of the chil- 
dren of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyp- 
tians and delivered our houses, and the people 
bowed the head and worshipped.” Ex. 12:26-27. 

The book from which our text is taken has 
special significance to the Church of God. Since 
Abraham founded the family through faith in God. 
the children of Israel have been a type of the Chris- 
tian Church which was perfected in Christ’s 
works, suffering and death. At all times since men 
have been making history, whether sacred or pro- 
fane, there have been certain events from which 
they have dated their national life or beginning and 
from these events each nation has celebrated its 
birthday. 

The United States has its Fourth ot July, the 
thundering of cannons, the ringing of bells, ban- 
queting with the best brain and eloquence of the 


74 BACK TO METHODISM. 


country, sending forth their powers in rhetorical 
splendor, indelibly write the significance of the 
Declaration of Independence upon young America’s 
heart, generation after generation, telling them by 
these means what has happened years ago. Eng- 
land hails the celebration of her Magna Charta 
with joy because it forever destroyed the despotic 
power of the king and gave the people the right 
to make laws by which they are governed through 
parliament for all times. 

God is fond of celebrations. He created heaven 
and earth in six periods and, rested on the seventh 
day from His gigantic labors and hallowed and 
blessed that day setting it apart as the Sabbath of 
rest and memorial. So that men everywhere might 
remember the completion of His works, which be- 
spoke His wisdom and power and to bow in rever- 
ence and worship to the Creator of all the universe. 
The rainbow which God placed in heaven brings 
to us the sorrowful recollection of the total de- 
pravity of the race before the flood, and at the same 
time it gives us consolation that the world shall 
never again be destroyed by water. 

There was a day in the history of the Jews that 
was a special interest to the world because it mark- 
ed the time when the custodians of true religion 
were to be transformed from a patriarchal family 
government to that of a great nation carrying pure 
and undefiled religion into its national life, which 
was destined to permeate the world with its benign 


BACK TO METHODISM 75 


influence and bring all nations to the worship of 
the only true and living God, Jehovah is His name. 

In 1491 B. C., God said unto Moses, “Come now, 
therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharoah, that 
thou mayst bring forth my people, the children of 
Israel, out of Egypt.” But Pharoah refused to 
obey God. After this God sent many plagues upon 
Egypt, exhibiting signs and wonders which were 
enough to turn any man to bend to His will, whose 
heart was not hardened. But nothing moved Pha- 
roah, so virtue ceased, forbearance and the awfur 
day of vengeance came upon him, and God s'ew 
the first born of both man and beast cf every Egvp- 
tian family and brought His people out from among 
them with a strong hand. 


THE PASSOVER COMPARED TO THE 
LORD’S SUPPER 


Moses was instructed by Jehovah how to for- 
mulate and institute the passover which was to be 
observed forever. On the 14th of April, three thous- 
and four hundred sixteen years ago, the paschal 
lamb was to be slain between the hours of three 
and sunset, and the blood sprinkled upon the door 
posts of the dwellings of the Israelites, so that the 
destroying angel who was to come that night would 
pass over them and spare the first born of their 
man and beast. God said to them, “After I shall 
have delivered you and shall have brought you out 
from among the Egyptians, you shall continue to 


70 BACK TO METHODISM 


keep this day as a memorial of your deliverance,” 
and then, in the language of the text, “When your 
children shall say to you, what mean you by this 
service, you shall say unto them, this is the Lord’s 
passover, when He brought us out of Egypt.” 

Let us compare the passover with the Lord’s 
Supper, that we may see that the paschal lamb was 
but a symbol of the paschal lamb of God, our Sav- 
iour, in whose honor Methodists gather regularly 
once a month around the altar of our Church to 
commemorate His sufferings and death. The 
paschal lamb was slain between three and sunset; 
Jesus Christ was slain between those hours. The 
paschal lamb was male without spot or blemish; 
Jesus, the Son of God, our Paschal Lamb, was pure 
without sin, yet He was human, subject to temp- 
tation, but He overcame them all; to joy He was 
merry at the wedding at Cana; to sorrow, He wept 
at the tomb of Lazarus; to physical weakness, He 
was overcome bearing His cross up Calvary’s sum- 
mit; He ate, drank, slept and saw activities, and 
was born of woman under the law. The blood of 
the paschal lamb was sprinkled on the door posts 
to save the first born of man and beast of one peo- 
ple at one time. Jesus Christ, God’s Paschal Lamb, 
was to be slain and His blood applied to the hearts 
of all people for all times. There was no efficacy in 
the blood of the paschal lamb, the people were only 
given a condition whereby they might save their 


BACK TO METHODISM 77 


souls alive for that one night, while something 
might cause death the next day. 

But thanks be to God, when the blood of Jesus 
has been applied to the heart, we are safe if we 
continue in the liberty wherewith Christ has set 
us free. The passover marked a change of a small 
enslaved family and laid the foundation of that 
which became a free and independent nation. 

The Lord’s Supper marked the end of the Jewish 
laws and ceremonies and unveiled the holy of the 
holiest, so that men everywhere by faith may ap- 
proach God in spirit and in truth. 

Notice again, not a bone of the paschal lamb was 
to be broken. That was true of Jesus Christ. 
Picture now, the Lord of heaven on the cross and 
see the cruel Roman soldiers nailing the iron spikes 
to His hands and feet. By faith, we can hear the 
ringing of the hammers, and imagine the intense 
pain that our Lord felt. Do you wonder at His 
dying before His legs were broken? Yes, the Scrip- 
tures must be fulfilled and it has said not a bone of 
the paschal lamb shall be broken, so when they 
came to break his legs, they found Him dead. But 
Romans’ crave for cruelty must be had, so a soldier 
pierced his side with a spear and from it came forth 
blood and water which opened a living fountain 
for the washing and cleansing of sinful men and 
the eternal cancelling of the great debt that stood 
against them and making our redemption sure. 


78 BACK TO METHODISM 


METHODISTS SHOULD PREPARE FOR THIS 
CELEBRATION 


We, therefore, who are Methodists, should pre- 
pare ourselves by living in fit manner to always be 
ready to celebrate-the greatest means of grace, 
given to the Christian Church. The love feast cham- 
ber is a dressing room where we fit ourselves to 
enter the bridal chamber, the Lord’s Feast, the Holy 
Sacrament. We all acknowledge that we are not 
even worthy to gather the crumbs under the table 
and that we do not attempt here to appear before 
the Lord in any merits of our own. We are sinful 
beings, living daily upon the grace and mercy of 
God, but there are places where we can help our- 
selves to help the Lord keep us in the path of 
righteous living. No one who calls himself a child 
of God needs to harbor and continually meditate 
malice and envy against his brother and sister. We 
pray daily that the Lord forgive us our sins as we 
forgive those who sin against us. This prayer 
means all that it says, that is, just as much as we 
forgive others, we ask the Lord to forgive us—no 
more, no less. 

The strength of Methodism is largely determin- 
ed by the number of communicants, as has been 
said for truth, the bravest man in the world is the 
man who can ask pardon when he has wronged 
another. Also, he is brave who has the same cour- 
age to grant forgiveness of the wrong done him. 


BACK TO METHODISM 79 


Christian Methodists should live in peace, fellow- 
ship and good will should reign supreme among us. 
Some have scruples one way and another about tak- 
ing the Lord’s Supper. Never mind what these 
scruples are, they ought to be explained to the 
pastor and he, if able, should administer to the 
scrupulous brother, brushing aside the obstacle. 
But some scruples nothing but the grace of God 
can move and Methodists should pray for that 
special grace; say for instance, one does not take 
the sacrament because he or she says that some of 
the brethren and sisters who take it are not living 
right. That is a poor excuse. Who makes any of 
us judges of another’s heart, only God knows our 
fitness, after all, and thank Him for His blessed 
Son, Jesus Christ, who tore away the veils which 
used to separate us from God when we had to go 
the Priests to make intercession for us. But the 
veil has been rent in twain and the glorious light 
of the gospel of peace now shines into every heart 
who accepts Jesus, and though that heart may be 
weak and full of faults, He guides it with His eye 
and succors it with His grace. Let us, in tears and 
sorrow for our shortcomings, come boldly to the 
throne of grace, bringing our gifts to the altar 
each month and when we come, though faltering 
and remembering we have aught against our bro- 
ther, let us leave there our gifts and go back and 
reconcile our scruples of malice, envy, deceit and 
selirighteousness with all to whom we have differ- 


&0 BACK TO METHODISM 


ences. Returning with an empty heart, contrite 
and yearning to be filled with the spirit of love, 
and Jesus will meet us at the altar and give us that 
benediction which will help maintain us until we 
come back to His table again to eat His blessed 
body and drink His blood. This was the way.the old 
time Methodists did things. They never let the sun 
go down upon their wrath. They were thankful to 
one another who called attention to their shortcom- 
ings and sins and rebuked them. 

If we went back to Methodism and walked in the 
old landmarks of our fathers, the spirit of God 
would manifest itself more in our work of bringing 
the world to Christ. 

Let us consider for whom is this celebration of 
the Lord’s Supper. The paschal lamb was slain 
for the children of Israel, and that too. only for 
those who kept to the faith of their fathers and 
were circumcised. In like manner, the Lord’s Sup- 
per, the eating of our Paschal Lamb’s bruised and 
mangled body, and the drinking of His precious 
blood was never intended for those who have not 
been born again. But it was meant for those who 
believed that Jesus came from God and that He has 
risen again with glorified body and now sitteth at 
the right hand of God, that we are commemorating 
His suffering and death until He comes again to 
spread anew His table in the new Jerusalem where 
we with all the saints and angels will take it anew 
with Him at the sacramental table above. 


BACK TO METHODISM 81 


CHAPTER VIII 
SEEK INTIMACY OF FRIENDLY SOCIETY 
AMONG YOURSELVES 


FRIENDLY RELATIONS GREAT STRENGTH 
TO METHODISTS 


One of the greatest strengths of the Methodists 
in former days was the friendly relations the mem- 
bers sought among themselves. They probably 
drew this lesson from the Bible, St. John 15:12-13. 
“This is my commandment that ye love one an- 
other as I have loved you. Greater love hath no 
man than this that he lay down his life for his 
friends.” 

The wor!d was against Jesus and tle few friends 
He had while He lived on earth.. It did all it could 
to hinder Him and the principles He taught. This 
was natural for only those who have like ideas 
can usually agree to walk together. There is an- 
attraction in the minds of thuse who think alike, 
no matter whom they are. Jesus said in this chap- 
ter, “If ye were of the world the world would love 
his own.” 

When Jesus and His few friends lived in the 
world, they were ostracized and ridiculed from 


82 BACK TO METHODISM 


within and without. From within, by the Jews, 
their brethren; from without, by the pagans, the 
rulers of the Jews. The Jews hated them from a 
religious viewpoint which differed from theirs. 
They wanted forms and ceremonies with a veil be- 
tween God and the people, while Jesus called them 
back to the simple worship of the patriarchs, which 
rent the veil and led man immediately into the pres- 
ence of God. The pagans hated Him from a politi- 
cal viewpoint, upon which they placed the wrong 
interpretation. His name, King Jesus, inflamed 
them with the idea that He came to usurp the throne 
of Caesar; that was why the false accusation of 
the Jews was readily relieved, and both Jews and 
Gentiles combined to blot His name and His teach- 
ings from the pages of history by imprisonment 
and death to all who owned Him. They did not 
succeed, Jesus lives today in His former glory and 
His friends who were few have multiplied by the 
millions. The few friends who began His struggles 
with Him, held themselves together with one aim 
and purpose to do His will. The early Metl.odists 
believel that to keep worldly company mas to en- 
danger then'selves by such environments, and 
hence, to lay themselves bare to the tempiation of 
the partaking of the worldly pleasures. They did 
not object to sinners coming amcng them in their 
churches, when they stated they came desiring to 
flee the wrath to come. But they did object to 
their members frequenting worldly places, such as 


BACK TO METHODISM 83 


horse racing, bar-rooms, card playing and dance 
halls. They gave the world the same prerogative 
they took for themselves, that is, they knew if the 
worldly came among them often, they would be 
influenced for good and join them. In like manner, 
if the Methodists went among the sinners fre- 
quently without a mind to worship, they would be 
influenced for bad and backslide. Hence, the rule, 
“Seek the intimacy of friendly relations among 
yourselves” is the safest advice for Christians who 
desire not to make a shipwreck of their faith, but 
to- overcome the world and win the prize. Any 
band of true friends with a sincere purpose can 
accomplish wonders for good. There are so many 
persons who do not understand what is true friend- 
ship. 
FRIENDSHIP RECIPROCAL 


Friendship is a fellow feeling to promote the best 
interests of ene another or any cause of which per- 
sons have a common view. The friendship which 
is not reciprocal is not true. 

Have you ever thought of the bees and, the 
fiowers, what close friends they are, in so much, 
that one cannot well prosper without the other? 
All know bees visit flowers and they do not go to 
see them just because they have wings and can 
fly, but they go because the flowers are their 
friends, and that both the bees and the flowers 
terive substancial benefits thereby. 


84 BACK TO METHODISM 


Botanists say that bees get the pollen directly from 
the stamen and the sugar nectar found at the bot- 
tom of the corola which serves as food and material 
to secrete honey. They say, further, that bees 
could not exist without flowers which would cease 
to produce pollen and nectar. Since flowers are 
indispensible to bees, let us see of what benefit are 
bees to flowers. The bee strikes the corola to get the 
pollen and the. nectar, and as he does so fills himself 
with germs which carries from one flower to an- 
other vitalizing and stimulating one after the other 
as he makes his rounds. So it is with friends, they 
never take from one another more than they bring. 
Friendship is reciprocity. It may be times when, 
seemingly, one friend has more to give than an- 
other, but the giver gets just as much joy out of the 
service he renders to his friend, no matter who 
gives most. A true friend often rather be the giver, 
than the receiver. Jesus was poor as far the world’s 
goods are concerned, but no friends ever enjoyed 
more complacency of spirit, more tender affection- 
ate love and service than did His. He was the 
chief of Friends, He gave all for them. 

The example of Jonathan and David and that of 
Damon and Pythias, all pale in insignificance before 
that of Jesus and His friends, who linked them- 
selves together to undergo hardships and suffer that 
the world might become better. 


There are lots of things more precicus than 
money. ‘True friendship is one of these. Money 


BACK TO METHODISM 85 


has never bought love; friendship is the medium 
through which love can be obtained. Friendship 
is love, and love is self-sacrificing service which at 
once becomes a duty. Jesus said, “Ye are my 
friends if you keep my commandments.” All who 
keep the commandments of Jesus are naturally 
thrown together in one accord. 


That is another reason why the Methodists de- 
sire that friendly relations should be sought among 
the members of the society, not only at _ the 
churches, but the sweet association of their amuse- 
ments found every day at home and abroad. 


86 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER IX 
TEMPERANCE 


LAW PUNISHES AFTER CRIME IS COMMITTED 


Where are the temperance societies which were 
so prevalent in the Methodist Church? The Metho- 
dists have always stood out against the use of 
strong drinks and against the rental or use of any 
property owned by them for the traffic of liquor. 
The stand was taken beginning at the family altar, 
and in the Churches, while Methodists legal rights 
and orators carried it to the lyceum platform and 
legislatures of the world. The agitation constant- 
ly kept before the youth the abhorrence, the evil 
derived from strong drinks of any kind. Societies, 
both senior and junior were organized in every 
charge and the ills of drink were put before the 
public. Legislation is good, but moral suasion is 
better it is a hard matter to make a free 
agent like man do anything against his 
will. More good for the cause could be done 
in one generation by a crusade of spirituality con- 
vincing the boy as he grows to manhood that drink- 
ing is a ruinous crime than years of legislation 


BACK TO METHODISM 8/ 


could accomplish. Spirituality grips the conscience 
of a man and stops him from committing crime 
and saves both himself and the person upon whom 
the crime is committed from much harm. The law 
can only punish after the crime is committed. When 
the victim’s wife is a widow and his children are 
orphans, no matter, if the man who committed 
the deed goes to the gallows. Why not catch his 
evil motive and strike the dagger from his hand 
before he plunges it into his victim and ruins both 
his brother and himself and leaves his wife and 
children also upon the mercies of a cold world. To 
mold sentiment in the Church along these moral 
lines, is better than any force we might attempt. 
Still we must not be mistaken as to the stand the 
Church must take regarding aiding the state in 
every affort it puts forth to put down wrong of any 
kind. Whatever else the Church does, its ideals 
ought to be supreme in recognizing the grace of 
God. The promotion of temperance and, the con~ 
demning of intemperance are distinctively a por- 
tion of the work devolved upon all Methodist 
Churches. It should, therefore, if necessary, strike 
out independently, or work in concert with any 
other means to carry its aim. This problem has 
presented a manifold demand upon the Church and 
the state to save the youth and we must remember 
that it has its legal side, its psycological side, its so- 
cial side, but all of these should get the impetus to 
check strong drink from the church. The Church 


88 BACK TO METHODISM 


should as early as possible, when the children are 
able to understand right from wrong, impress upon 
them the great evil of allowing themselves to be 
controlled by King Alcohol. 


Come back to Méthodism and have the regular 
temperance meetings in the churches. The things 
that we are not able to make plain ourselves, let 
us invite experts, just as a demonstrator would 
show us the hygienic evil of a fly or other dan- 
gerous microbes which spread infection or conta- 
gion, let the experts demonstrate upon the effects 
of alcohol, also, show us the evils to be derived 
therefrom. 


Many persons who are adversed to temperance 
in drinks are like scuttle fish and try to muddle the 
water with extenuating the word ‘temperance, 
touching every point of intemperance i.e., to eat too 
much, sleep too much, neglect to feed the mind by 
indulgence in frivolous worldly things. All of these 
evils should be mastered. But let us not confuse them 
with the main issue that is, the drink habit, this 
must be largely conquered by the methods of the 
Church which are prayer, correct teaching of youth, 
and our stand for Church ideals every where. 


BACK TO METHODISM 89 


CHAPTER X 
BENEFITS OF FASTING 
CONFLICTING AGENCIES 


Wherever there are conflicting agencies, there is 
a war constantly going on for supremacy. Both 
sides are exerting every ounce of strength possess- 
ed to gain the mastery and to rule. Man has a soul 
and body, or in other words, he is flesh and spirit. 
These two elements are constantly clashing to 
over-come each other. Whichever one is strong- 
er is bound to dominate the whole man and will use 
him at his will. If the flesh prevails, the whole 
man becomes fleshy; no spiritual thing has any 
power in him to do when the flesh rises up. While 
on the other hand, if the spirit has ascendancy and 
rules, it commands the body as it does the soul 
and compels the whole man to obey it. The whole 
body wants ease and will do anything to obtain 
its desire. The flesh is of the earth, earthy, and 
is chief aim is to grovel in the dust. 


When we use the word ‘fleshy’ we have a re- 
gard to the evil propensities which dwell in the 
man and may be denominated particular vices, viz: 
self-indulgence, to lie to steal, give vent to the 


90 BACK TO METHODISM 


feeling of all bodily lust, to slander, scheme evil 
plots to destroy, use avarice usury, to dig and 
oppress the less fortunate, to swindle and black 
mail; which are some of the legions that dwell in 
man’s breast, which he must over-come by the spirit 
or the particular virtures which also dwell in man’s 
breast side by side with the particular vices. Hence, 
the war continually being waged, evil against good. 

The mind is the great machine which works on 
both sides. If it works on the evil side and is a 
real good mind, the evil that is conjures is attenuat- 
ed a hundred fold more harmful than the work of 
a simpler mind. The same is also true concerning 
the great good that the mind does when it works, 
all things being equal, on the spiritual side. It is 
certainly not an easy task for one to keep himself. 
That innate power within differing from every 
other sentient being, the soul or the mind, or 
whatever you may call it, that thing which God 
has given man aside from the blind instinct given 
other living things, is the thing that keeps up the 
war in his bosom to make him choose between the 
good and evil. “God sent His Son in the likeness of 
sinful flesh to condemn sin in the flesh that the 
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us,who 
walk not after the flesh but after the spirit.” Rom. 
8 33-4. 

Now then, since this wonderful aid has been sent 
to man’s assistance, if he will obey and keep in 
memory the teachings that Jesus taught and go to 


BACK TO METHODISM 9} 


Him day after day for strength to help fight the 
warring members of the flesh, he can overcome, 


Every army that goes to war endeavors to cut 
off the food and water supply of the enemy. [If it 
is successful in this, the victory is more speedy 
won than by shot and shell. ‘We are told that if the 
entente powers had had food supply, the allies never 
could have subdued them. It is here where our 
country came into largest portion of helping to win 
the victory on the sides of the allies, while mul- 
lions of French, English, Russian, Belgian, and 
Great Britain soldiers fell on the side on which we 
fought, to say nothing about the millions who fell 
on the opposite side with Germany, Austria, Hun- 
gary, and Turkey. Germany, one of the greatest 
war like nations ever known to the world, versed in 
military science and in chemical discoveries, launch- 
ed one of the greatest blockades, by submarines 
zones, of the age. Her object was to starve her 
enemy into submission and had not America en- 
tered the war on the side of the allies with her great 
number of ships and bounteous food supplies, built, 
as it were a bridge across the Atlantic, upon which 
to carry food, they would have been ingloriously 
defeated by the Entente Powers. We are also told, 
that the success of the union army in the war of 
1861-5 was not so much Grant’s or Sherman’s Mail 
of Arms, as it was the blockading of the Confed- 
erates in Richmond, Vicksburg and Hilton Head. 


In fact, if we go back into the records of most 


92 BACK TO METHODISM 


of the wars fought and get the history of their 
victories, we will find that nearly all of the defeats 
were obtained by siezes or blockades and starva- 
tion. No hungry man can fight; he must have food 
for strength. 

We have said all of this to show how important 
it is to starve an enemy when you are at war with 
him. Every Christian is at war with his fleshy 
self, and the benefits for the good of his soul must 
come from starving his body sufficiently to keep it 
under, that his soul may be stronger abound and 
rule. 


THE OLD TIME METHODISTS FASTED AS THE 
OCCASION DEMANDED 


The old time Methodists fasted as they felt the 
need of Spiritual food, particularly on Friday of 
each week. They knew that by fasting they were 
bringing the body under subjection, for as they 
fasted they also prayed for forgiveness of their 
sins, for more love toward their neighbors, for sin- 
ners that they desired brought to the throne of 
grace and converted. In fact, they picked out 
certain ones whom they took as their immediate 
charges to lead to Christ. They thought it a privi- 
iege and a special blessing for them to fast and 
pray, that the blinded eyes of the sinner might be 
opened, that he would confess Christ and join the 
army of the saints. Fasting also helps the body. 


BACK TO METHODISM 93 


Many of us eat too much. Our stomachs need a 
little rest which it gets while we are feeding the 
soul, Fasting. 

Let it not be thought that any such spiritua 
work as fasting, or special series of prayer, that the 
individual might enter into, was ever contemplated 
by Methodists as being any works of supereroga- 
tion. They were not so impious, rather, they knew 
while they were trying to bring others to Christ, 
they were bettering their own spiritual condition 
and living and drawing nearer to the command of 
the Lord—working out the soul’s salvation with 
fear and trembing before His face. 


94 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER XI 
EVIL TENDENCIES OF TODAY 


UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT 

Before going turther into the subject, we wish 
to ask the question, Has the United States govern- 
ment in it, the elements of permanency? Because the 
government of the home is the great feeder to 
permanency of the state. But we do not propose 
to discuss the question, are chemical elements per- 
manent; or the question, are elemental truths and 
principles permanent; or the question, are there 
any elemental and permanent truths and principles 
recognized and embodied in our government? But 
this is the question we propose t odiscuss: Is there 
today a good and sure pledge of permanence in our 
government? JI say our government, for no one 
thinks for a moment that the time will come when 
this land with its ever increasing millions will 
have no government. But our government not a 
monarchy, not an oligarchy, but a republic, a gov- 
ernment of the people, by the people, founded 
through God as a Christian nation, an asylum for 
all races. Therefore, the question is, will our pres- 
ent form of government stand or fall? It is then 


BACK TO METHODISM 95 


more important that we consider the character 
and tendencies of the people than to examine the 
provisions of our constitutions and the terms 
of our laws. What are the tendencies of the peo- 
ple today’ First, there is a tendency to dishonor 
the family-—The family is the first form of govern- 
ment God gave to man, and from it sprang city, 
state and nation. Yes, more, it is the corner-stone 
upon which the superstructure of a republic rests— 
to weaken the corner-stone is to endanger the 
whole superstructure resting upon it. This is what 
is being done. 


MARRIAGE AND DIVORCE 


Many marriages are no longer sacred. Some peo- 
ple marry for wealth and social position, just the 
opposite to the divine institution. Methodism stood 
on the purity of family life, regardless to whom 
it hurt, but in these times we find many loosening 
the bands and Methodist parents are selling their 
daughters for social standing, and adding their 
means to sealthe worldly bargain. The daughters 
sell themselves to worthless degenerate sons of 
some supposed uppish family, because they are 
fashion plates and good dancers. In society if a man 
is supposed to be rich, no matter if he is bankrupt 
in character, he is counted a good catch, and the 
girls and their parents fish for him. 

Marriage should be from pure motives and not 


96 BACK TO METHODISM 


from any selfish aim. It should promote the mutu- 
al affections of the couple and secure peace and 
happiness in the family circle. Nothing but pure 
love underfiled can induce and enable the couple to 
bear each other’s short coming, otherwise, without 
love, when differénces come and contentions arise, 
steps are immediately taken for divorce. Divorce 
is almost as common as marriage—for the slightest 
provocation, the family is broken up and the educa- 
tion of the children is neglected. Just at the time 
when the child needs the guidance of both parents 
to teach it the obligation of true citizenship, and 
the right use of the privileges it is to enjoy, the 
parents are separated and untold harm is done to 
the child and another weak link is placed in the 
chain of government. Back to Methodism will bring 
the return of family prayer in the home, and teach 
patience and moderation in the state. 


Soon after the French Revolution began, 1789, 
seven years after the guns for the freedom of the 
American colonies had ceased to thunder forth and 
the stars and stripes had proudly flown over the 
thirteen states of opportunity and privilege for rich 
and poor alike, without title or caste, for five years 
after the celebrated Christmas Conference, 178, 
when the Methodist Episcopal Church unfurled 
her organic banner in America to help shape the 
religious destiny of the new country; her preachers 
following the people as they went over rivers, 
lakes, mountains and »lains, tenting and camping 


BACK TO METHODISM 97 


in the lumber forests, the coal, iron, and gold 
mines to save souls and help build up a nation 
whose sheet anchor was to be in God’s Word, and 
its government to be through His righteous guid- 
ance. We say seven and five years respectively 
citing two among the greatest epochs in human 
endeavors. Thea came one of the most terrible 
human earthquakes ever known to history which 
shook the continent of Europe from center to cir- 
cumference. It was the horrible French Revolu- 
tion that stirred in the souls of men every kind of 
emotion; scrrow and abhorrence; sympathy, joy 
and admiration which made men laugh and made 
them cry as they saw the principles they espoused, 
triumph or fail. No civil strife ever known to hu- 
manity has been so destructive to human life and 
property as this one. It makes one shiver today 
to read of the Reign of Terror. The slow but sure 
dreadful sound of the guillotine, the binding togeth- 
er of men and women, boys and girls, by couples, 
and throwing them into the river, to be drowned 
(called state marriage). Large numbers of poor, 
helpless beings put on scows and carried out into 
the river when the bottom of the vessel was knock- 
ed out and the victims drowned like rats. The Lord 
only knows how many died in the awful catastro- 
phe, but we are told over 15,000  perish- 
ed one month to say nothing of the 1,400 
who were guillotined from June 10 to July 17, 1794. 

During this terrible time of Robesppierre’s reign, 


98 BACK TO METHODISM 


a law was passed permitting divorces, and in less 
than three months nearly as many divorces as 
marriages were recorded and the nation sank into 
moral degradation, under which spell she is still 
suffering debasement and ridicule. Then the people 
had left God and set up the goddess of reason, a 


nude woman appealing to the nations’ sensual appe- 
tite and made the day of worship the 10th day in- 


stead of Sunday the 7th day. Pollute the spring and 


you pollute the stream which flows from it; dishon- 
or the family and you degrade the life of the whole 
nation which flows from it. 

Then we should go back to Methodism and en- 


force strictly our marriage and divorce laws and 
practice. That is, our boys and girls should be taught 
as the Scriptures enjoin to be not unequally yoked, 
but Christians should marry Christians, and mar- 
riage should be only consummated after fervent 
prayer to God to endorse the contract in heaven. 
Then divorces would be fewer and these sacred 
bands would strengthen the Church and save the 
nations from their tendency to pollution. 


CLASS AND RACE HATRED 


Another tendency of the people which only the 
family government can remedy, is class and race 
hatred. As long as children are taught class and 
race hatred in a heterogenous nation as ours there 
is likelihood that religious persecution and malice 
will grow decper and more serious, and if God does 


BACK TO METHODISM 99 


not intervene in some supetnatural way to check 
this hydroheaded monster, our nation will totter 
and eventually go to pieces and crumble in the dust. 
We are taught to regard our national government 
as our greatest governing power, we pull off our 
hats and salute the flag. We bare our breasts and 
bleed and die to protect her honor. But the thing 
which makes any government secure and every 
man in it a patriot is his training at the family 
altar at his mother’s knee to love his God and his 
neighbors and do justice and equity toward all, 
whether they are his color, or have his creed, or 
as fortunate as he, whether learned or unlearned. 
These principles are not being taught in the aver- 
age American family. The children are not being 
taught love and respect towards their neigh- 
Dors.g) bute rather they are being taught 
discrimination and class distinction By the 
time the pure little baby begins to talk and 
take notice, his parents tell him whom to hate and 
to disrespect, thus molding a set of citizens con- 
stantly drifting apart into classes, and cliques and 
clans, as the families of any republic drift apart 
that government is gradually, but surely disintre- 
gating. May we not ask are not the American 


people who have been so_ signally blessed 
by the Lord in times of peace and wars 
fast forgetting the ancient teachings of the 
fathers and founders of this great  na- 
tion? Is not profligacy becoming more pronounced, 
a laxness for worship of the true and living God, a 


disregard for things religious: Yes, many are even 


100 BACK TO METHODISM 


denying the sovereign right of God to rule His own 
hand-made universe. Infidels and skeptics, an- 
archists and bandits, swindlers and frauds, forgers 
and confidence men will black-mail and murder 
on every side, and the reason for all these crimes 
is potent, viz: We-have pulled down the family 
altar, stopped reading the Bible in the family cir- 
cle, stopped advising, our children to love the good 
and hate the bad. 

In the balmy day of Methodism, the pastoral 
visits were a blaze of spiritual illumination where 
the parents and children were gathered at the fami- 
ly shrine. If we went back to the Methodist ancient 
teaching, class prejudice would melt away, rape and 
arson, lynching human beings would cease, there 
would be better administration of justice in the 
courts, more protection for life and property, for 
every one who dwells under our flag. But because 
of this backsliding and neglect of duty around the 
fireside, the girls and boys leave home to establish 
new homes for themselves, go out with malice and 
bias against certain groups, so that when a member 
of one class is brought into the courts, the other 
class stands full of hatred and revenge to condemn 
without a decent hearing or fair trial. 

Yes, the entire human or race problem all over 
the world would be solved in one generation, if 
the world would accept Jesus’ teaching, “As ye 
would that men would do unto you, do ye even 
unto them.’ But if it is ever done, the work must 


BACK TO METHODISM 101 


begin and be finished at the fireside. The home is 
the place to train the boys to respect the virtue 
of girls, and there is where the girls are to be taught 
that their virture is more precious than life itself. 
Too many rob the boy of his rights because he is a 
boy. Lots of parents do this because the boy its 
able to earn a few dollars quicker than the girl— 
CHEAP ECONOMY. Take just as much care to 
make a boy educated and refined as you do with the 
girl. Every girl should have a husband, and if she 
is as educated as the queen’s daughter and has to 
marry an ignorant, uncouth man, all of her culture 
is wasted. On the other hand, if a refined boy had 
to marry a girl below him, he, being the head of the 
house, could pull her up. These young citizens we 
are sending from the homes must purify our poli- 
tics. 

The only redeeming and saving element in any 
government is in its power and purpose to protect 
the interests of all classes of its citizens. Every 
government which has failed to do this has fallen. 
In such protection there must be pure elections, 
wise legislation and just administration. We 
talk about the buying and selling votes, and the 
stuffing of the ballot boxes to defeat the people’s 
righteous aim. We talk about corruption in legis- 
lation, about the trust keeping lobbyist at capitals 
to get avarice bills passed which enable them to 
corner all the necessities of life and oppress the 
poor. We say how public men are controlled by 


102 BACK TO METHODISM 


party spirit, and that they are simply spokes in the 
party’s political wheels to help run the machine. 
The way to remedy all these evils is to teach the 
boys and girls the sacred trust of citizenship in our 
homes so that when they are grown, bribes for 
casting mallots will not contaminate them. 


SO MANY THINGS BETTER THAN MONEY 


Another tendency of people is to get money at 
any cost. The air is poisoned with the gold fever; 
men are. selling their reputations, yes, some 
of them their families and their very souls 
for the dollar. This mad rush for riches, this 
love of money and greed of gain has taken pos- 
session of many of our people in their eager de- 
sire to get rich. Child labor is one of the examples, 
for child labor means an ignorant and stunted, man- 
hood and womanhood, and these mean the weaken- 
ing and degradation of the nation. 


In this mad rush for wealth, all regard for truth 
is given up. Dishonesty and deception have enter- 
ed almost every business and profession, misrepre- 
sentation and cheating are regarded as simply a 
business transaction, benevolence is forgotten. Pro- 
moters sell all sorts of watered stock which has no 
value when the water is squeezed out of it, selling 
crops which have never been planted, gold which 
was never dug, machines which were never put to- 
gether. Men are too busy with the things of the 


BACK TO METHODISM 103 


world, too busy with things that perish to think of 
the imperishable treasures of righteous character, 
and character after all is what most enriches a fam- 
ily or nation and is the surest pledge to its per- 
petuity. So long as Jesus’ teachings prevail in the 
home and in the nation we will remain a liberty 
loving, fair dealing and God fearing people at home 
and abroad. 


IMPERIALISM 


Let us go back to the first era before Christ and 
we find Rome mistress of the world, she levied 
taxes upon every nation of the then known world, 
and great was her sway. Her iron hand of law and 
commercial influence went hand in hand with her 
conquest and the Atlas and the Perenees were the 
lofty summits from which her will was proclaimed 
and civilized world obeyed. She became rich from 
levying tributes, and the spirit of self indulgence 
and luxury took possession of her people and these 
vices naturally led to weakness, so that when the 
hardy Goths came upon her, she fell and her glory 
faded as a shadow. Had she adhered to Jesus’ 
teaching, nothing would have happened to her. 

The time its fast approaching when nothing but 
love will hold us together, force cannot do it; the 
many strikes and general unrest and lawlessness 
warn us of our coming danger, for as the Goths 
were taken into the Roman empire and 
wrought its detriment because Rome was 


i104 BACK TO METHODISM 


puffed up and forgot God and had not love but 
depended on her legions and sword, spears and 
chariots, and battle-axes, which gave them con- 
quest, but eventually brought them to indulgence 
and display of luxury, extravagancies and excesses. 
Then ideals of purity faded from view and sturdy 
virtues sickened and died and the nation sank. 
down in corruption and weakness and became the 
prey of invading Goths, so also will be the fate of 
proud America if we fail to keep the corner-stone 
of our government resting upon the everlasting 
Rock of Ages-—Jesus Christ. Otherwise, some un- 
scrupulous man who will raise up a group of un- 
godly hordes will overthrow our republic and en- 
throne himself upon her ruins. 


PLEASURE 


This is one of the problems of today—pleasure. 
Too often it has been put before every other thing, 
in that proper provisions for it have largely been 
neglected. The dance halls, cabarets, and in many 
cases, immoral moving pictures have hindered 
many of our young people in giving their best to 
things more inspiring and ennobling. The dance 
has taken almost control of them and the desire for 
reading clubs, musical associations, sewing circles, 
artistic drawing and the old Methodist Church 
parties have almost completely faded away. If we 
went back to Methodism and took control of our 


BACK TO METHODISM 105 


children, not turning them loose too quickly as 
men and women in the world, we would be able 
by placing wholesome environments around them 
to control their pleasures, even after they are grown 
It is indeed nauseating and arouses one’s indigna- 
tion to hear parents say about their twelve and 
thirteen year old boys and girls, they can do noth- 
ing with them. Is not that boy or girl yours? Did 
not God give him or her to you? Don’t you know 
He will require you to give an account to Him for 
the child’s early training? 

Susanna Wesley, the sainted mother of John 
Wesley, the founder of Methodism, says among 
other things what she called her code of rule for 
family government, “The will of the child is the 
first thing to be broken.” The child of yesterday is 
the youth of tomorrow, and the youth full of ener- 
gy soon becomes the young man, and he in turn, 
the settled person and then the old man, so goes the 
world, so goes life. 

But as these several changes are made and new 
conditions confront each of these characters in their 
new sphere of life, hour by hour, as the child grows 
deeper responsibilities and larger opportunities are 
placed upon its shoulders. 

It is a sad fact that so many parents place veils 
over their children’s faces, which is foolish love, 
hiding from their gaze the part they must sooner 
or later play upon the stage of action, and is also 
damaging to the child and society alike. 


106 BACK TO METHODISM 


God made this world for all of His creatures, and 
the parent who thinks his child the only one in the 
world, aud that its every desire or whim has to be 
pacified at the expense of everybody else in the 
world, is making a sad mistake; he is simply rear- 
ing one who, when he becomes a man, when his will _ 
is brooked, will commit murder or arson, or any 
other heinous crime to carry out that which his 
parents taught him was his to have and to hold, 
tegardless of the man next door. 


BACK TO METHODISM 107 


CHAPTER XII 


THE USE OF THE TONGUE 


METHODISM WARNS AGAINST EVIL SPEAKING 


St. James, in the third chapter, the first ten verses 
of the New Testament, gives one of the best 
descriptions on the use of the tongue, setting forth 
some of the most valuable moral receipts intended 
to help the life of Christians. 

The Methodists caught the clue to the splendid 
moral taught to warn against the evil of too much 
speaking, especially speaking evil of ministers 
and magistrates, or those who are intrusted with 
the spiritual or temporal rule. Evil speaking of 
anyone or anything for the benefit of the people 
largely comes from covetousness and jealousy, and 
is the most dangerous enemy in the struggles of 
human endeavors. Evil speaking breeds strife and 
bitter hatred, and makes people wish one anothec 
all manner of harm; it goes further and dispossess- 
es one of his real self and pushes him out into the 
sea of intemperance, for it almost invariably hatch- 
es profanity or leads to the indulgence of every 
other vice; therefore, the bad use of the tongue is 


108 BACK TO METHODISM 


the mother of all strife and disorder. Evil speak- 
ing inflates the mind to foolish pride and over- 
bearing arrogance and hands down myths to gen- 
eration after generation. It draws from the ser- 
vice of God, and deteriorates one’s faith in the 
Saviour. : 

Therefore, James spoke of the power of the 
tongue and laid special emphasis upon the use and 
control of it. These are great days of investiga- 
tions, when everything is being tested—one can 
scarcely speak without the most minute descrip- 
tion or detail of the proposition he sets forth. Men 
are mixing things with too much evil speaking— 
comparing science with religion, or in other words, 
comparing reason with faith, or matter with spirit, 
or the infinite with the finite; both of these are real, 
both have their places in the realm of human ex- 
istence, only one is physical and the other is spirit- 
ual; one is an enigma, and the other a mystery. All 
things human can be figured out, all things spiritual 
must be revealed—God and all of His wonderful 
works are the mysteries we cannot figure out. 
Jesus said, “It is not that which is in the man de- 
files him, but that which comes out of him.” 

We take into us as we come into contact with 
the outside world, effective things which touch all 
of our faculties, or what we hear, see, smell, taste 
or feel, all have mediums inward to reach the 
soul. But the power of speech from one’s self lets 
out all and takes in nothing. Therefore, a man can 


BACK TO METHODISM 109 


ruin himself or others quicker through the medium 
of the tongue than through any other one of the 
faculties he possesses. St. James says that a little 
rudder governs a ship, and that the tongue is to the 
body what the rudder is to the ship. This is a beau- 
tiful figure, and many to whom he was speaking 
knew how easily a ship is turned about by the 
slightest touch of the helm. So is the whole char- 
acter of a man sometimes turned about by the 
slightest word which comes out of his mouth, or 
the mouth of a slanderous person, or a deceitful 
enemy. Let us draw another figure from St. James 
The body is the ship, the tongue is the rudder, and 
the conscience is the captain. Then, it depends on 
the kind of captain one has on board his vessel to 
determine its destiny. 


The Methodists had keen insight for the benefit 
of the world when they adhered to this splendid 
lesson on the use of the tongue, and gave a solemn 
warning to her members and adherents to eschew 
evil speaking. The course over which the figura- 
tive ship must sail from earth to glory is full of 
shoal places—rocks are strewn on every side, and 
slander is in the mouth of every harbor, so that if 
the captain is not touched by the Master Pilot, Jesus 
Christ, and the reefs and dangers pointed out day 
by day by Him, the ship will be dashed to pieces on 
the rocks of ruin. 


110 BACK TO METHODISM ¢ 


THE BODY MADE OF LIMBS AND ORGANS FOR 
MAN’S HEALTH AND PLEASURE 


God has given us every member of the body to 
be used to His own glory and the benefit of our 
fellowmen. Speech is one of our greatest faculties 
and the most capable of doing good or evil. 

The tongue is that little member of the body 


which has several functions to perform for the use 
and happiness of the human family. The body is 


made up of many limbs and organs all working 
together for the health and pleasure of the unit. 
Still each member has its own duty to perform, 
and no part of the whole can be inactive where full 
results are to be obtained. Certainly there are 
greater and lesser members of the body, as there 
are greater and lesser lights in the universe. The 
eye is the organ of sight; it opens to our view 
things around us and enlightens the mind in vari- 
ous delightful ways. The sight of the beautiful 
blue dome with the shining sun by day, the silvery 


moon, with the glittering stars by night, the scene 
of vegetation, in trees, fruits and flowers, canopies 


to the earth, with its mountains and valleys and 
plains covered with the carpeted green grass, with 
the living creatures roving over it, and then, the 
rippling rivers and dancing lakes, and the wide 
ocean. and the creatures which ply them are all 
brought to our minds by the sight of the eye, and 
we enjoy the splendor and should give God the 
glory. The ear is the instrument of hearing, trans. 


BACK TO METHODISM 111 


mitting sound to the soul, either for its delight or 
its horror. Hearing is warning, for often if we 
were not warned by sound, whether by spoken 
voice or otherwise, our entire body would be de- 
stroyed. But because we can hear the whistle of 
the locomotive, we rush from the track before we 
are huried therefrom into eternity. We are elated 
with the preaching of God’s word and other ora- 
tory which edifies us—what a wonderful gift is 
the sense of hearing. Feeling is that faculty that 
puts us in direct communication with heaven and 
earth, the beautiful sounds that we hear, the scenic 
rapture that we experience, the supererogation of 


taste, and the sense of smelling, which tells us 
whether our environments are wholesome or other- 


wise. All of these work together in unity as one 
piece of machinery to operate for mari’s benefit. 


ONLY MAN ENDOWED WITH POWER OF SPEECH 


God gave other creatures the power of the senses 


i. e., to see, to hear, to feel, to taste, to smell, but 
He gave man the power to speak, that gift no other 


creature has, with which he can communicate out 
of the depths of his soul. God never intended that 
man should be alone, is the reason why He gave 
him a tongue, so he can express his wants and de- 
sires to one another. He gave him a tongue par- 
ticularly to praise Him and to do all the good he 


112 BACK TO METHODISM 


can with it. Why then oppose God’s desire, and go 
from house to house, church to church, society to 
society, up and down the streets and in the byways 
and highways, everywhere kindling strife and using 
the instrument the Lord gave for a blessing, to 
make men miserable, discontented, angry and even 
sometimes to the point of casting away the soul. 
Why not live in peace as far as possible? You 
cannot separate yourself from the world; you are 
in it and a part of it, you will have to live and die 
amid your fellowmen. And then, in eternity, you 
will not be the only spirit who will inhabit your 
place of abode. The Methodists’ ancient teaching 
was to govern the tongue and live in peace. When 
you hear people quarreling, they don’t sound like 
human beings, but like beasts of the field growling 
‘6éver their prey. When you hear the tongue utter- 
ing unbecoming language you can understand at 
once the state of the person’s heart out of which 
it proceeds. People often speak evil of one an- 
other from false conception; others do so from jeal- 
ousy. One may be in error and should take the 
time to get the right conception of anything before 
he speaks evil of his brother. There is not anv 
remedy for the jealous man but regeneration. 
There are some people in the world who think 
they own the universe and all others must do just 
as they say or all is wrong. This class thinks it 
must illtreat and dictate to others at its will and 
there must be no affront taken therefrom. We 


BACK TO METHODISM 113 


sometimes find those with a little more learning 
speaking disparagingly of the brother less fortu- 
nate; on the other hand, we find some who are 
jealous of those who have had a little better oppor- 
tunity along these lines. There should be no such 
feeling existing; there should be no such hints ut- 
tered, both of these persons are classes that go to 
make up the world. What good is learning to any 
man if he has no one to teach; what good can be 
derived to the one in darkness if he rejects the one 
who brings him hight? God made us brothers and, 
as it were, links of chain depending on each link 
for the good of the whole. The greatest good of 
all creatures is man. Why then, place the feeling 
of God’s greatest creature on the level of a brute 
and pour out violent language upon him? Some say 
they do it because he is bad. Who made any of us 
judges? “Vengeance is mine. I will repay.” saith 
the Lord. (Romans 12:1). 


WATCH AN EVIL SPEAKER 


Again, the Methodist discipline says that the ac- 
cused and the accuser should be brought face to 
face. No one should be adjudged guilty before he 
has been proven so. It is criminally wrong for one 
to just take the words of another against a brother 
without also taking the time to establish the truth- 
fulness of them. We are certain that when a good 
many talebearers would come to bring us news, if 


114 BACK TO METHODISM 


we would just say, “Wait a minute, brother,” and 
call the brother against whom he speaks to hear 
what he has to say, we would not have so many 


quarrels and fights and bad, blood continually boil- 
ing in our hearts for one another. It is wrong and 


dangerous to take what we hear, and do not give 
the person that is the victim of the hearsay an op- 
portunity to prove whether he was quoted correct- 
ly or not, we should not just grow cold on him and 
eventually entirely fall out sometimes with our 
best friends, at the bottom of which was only the 
hissing in the ears of a poisonous serpent, that evil 
speaker who has accomplished his aim to separate 
friends and, as he thinks, makes himself larger in 
the eyes of both for the iniquitous service he se- 
cretly rendered. One cannot defile his neighbor 
with falsehocd without ultimately defiling himself. 
An old adage runs: “Keep away from the chimney 
sweeper,” for if a girl dressed in immaculate white 
hugs him, she is blackened, or if he hugs her, the 
same results. Watch an evil speaker, she or he 
comes to bring you no good news. If you will al- 
low him to entwine your affections, he will blacken 
your disposition and leave you suspicious, thinking 
that every one who holds a secret conversation is 
speaking about you, thus, sending you through life 
crippled, bias, and selfish. Regard your brother’s 
good name as you would your own. Shakespeare 
says, “He that stealeth my purse, stealeth trash, 
but he that robs me of my good name takes that 


BACK TO METHODISM 115 


which enriches him not, but makes me poor in- 
deed.” 

When you speak evil of any one you are trying 
to destroy his reputation and you are taking away 
from him that which you cannot replace, even when 
your malicious spirit is gone and your reason re- 
turns. Be careful how you sow the seed of dissen- 
sion, for when you have repented and desire to 
cease from your evil way, you are unable to stop 
the tide you started flowing. In this way you often 
lead persons out from churches or other good en- 
vironments, then you repent and return to the or- 
ganization from whence you went. But how about 
those you led out? Maybe some of them will never 
recover from the evil blow of your leadership. A 
good tongue is a blessing in every community, it 
elevates and enlivens and inspires the soul of all 
who hear it. To have a good tongue is to rely on 
Jesus to keep the door of our lips each day. When 
we find our hearts more inclined to speak evil than 
good, it is because we are too far from Jesus and 
the governing power of Methodism. We take into 
our hands matters we should take to our Saviour, 
and we fail. When we meet, no matter where, if 
we were to speak of the plan of salvation, instead 
of conversing with one with evil intent, we would 
have so much more power for good in the world. 
In this we would find ourselves more able to fight 
wrong, the temptation of the wor!d, and to over- 
come. 


116 BACK TO METHODISM 


Read the life of Jesus through, thoroughly, and 
you will find no time where He ever held a trifling 
conversation. Read biographies of the greatest 
men of the ages; they did not have time to speak 
evil of one another, rather, they were too busy 
adding their little mite to the world with deeds and 
words of uplift. Mud slingers, faisifiers, double 
dealers have reached no place of honor in the an- 
nals of human history. The Methodists saw these 
truths and handed them down to their children. 


BACK TO METHODISM 


We are simply calling back to Methodism, as- 
sured that if we may follow these examples we 
will find ourselves improving in all things. We 
hope none will understand us by this call 
‘Back to Methodism’, that we, as it were, are to 
close our mouths and only open them when we 
are going to read the Bible, or pray, or talk about 
something religious. We mean no such thing; all 
of the creatures of God are good; God gave us all 
our faculties, our tongue included, to make us hap- 
py and to supply our needs. We are not happy if 
we do not use it to build up and not to tear down, 
we are to use it for wholesome speech, ard not 
abuse or slander. We are to use pure language, not 
profanity which pollutes and debases the soul and 
ruins the body. Condemn wrong in the spirit of 
love wherever you find it, but be sure you are 
right before you start your complaint. 


BACK TO METHODISM 117 


May the rules of Methodism ever live; may there 
never be a time when they shall perish from the 
earth. Back to Methodism to the landmark of our 
fathers, for decency and order should be the watch- 
word coming from every tongue. The Methodists 
laid special emphasis upon evil speaking for Christ- 
ians guidance, while the admonition also speaks 
with equal force to all men to bridle the tungue, for 
unbridled, it causes more trouble than any cther 
member of the body. Evil speaking is responsible 
for more prisoners in cells, more homes wrecked, 
more churches torn up, more societies ruined, more 
wars and bloodshed, than from any other instru- 
ment known to man. 

Let us go back to Methodism and use the tongue 
rightfully, that is, if you cannot say something 
good of a person, keep silent. God will bless you, 
men will revere you, and your conscience will give 
you peace. 


118 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER XIII 
FIGHTING—QUARRELING—BRAWLING 
THE WORLD’S WAR 


“From whence come wars and fightings among 
you, come they not hence even of your lusts that 
war in your members, ye lust and have not, ye kill 
and desire to have and cannot obtain, ye fight and 
war yet ye have not, because ye ask not.” St. 
James 4.1-2. 

St. James is asking the question that now puz- 
zles the world concerning the wars which caused 
so much trouble. We have gotten different ac- 
counts from the nations of the ages who have been 
involved, but none have gotten a sufficient reason 
for all the terrible sacrifice of human life. 

Take the great World’s War for instance, this 
is the way the controversy began and the results 
in blood and carnage have been appalling, to say 
nothing of the suffering which followed from hun- 
ger, disease and bereavement. 

On June 29, 1914, Archduke Ferdinand and his 
wife were assassinated by a Servian in Bosnia and 
the Austrian government demanded _ satisfaction, 
styling it a plot and a murder to which the Servian 
government was a party. Servia’s reply was that 


BACK TO METHODISM 119 


she warned Austria to keep her royal blood out of 
her territory, because the Servians are a different 
blood and the disposition from Austrians and that 
if they were not kept separate invariably, trouble 
would ensue. And, furthermore, the Servian Gov- 
ernment had nothing to do whatever with the com- 
mon case of murder, but that the guilty party would 
be brought to justice and punished for the crime. 

Nevertheless, Austria declared war on Servia 
and Russia moved troops on Austria’s froiutier. 
Germany sent an Ultimatum to Russia demanding 
that she cease mobilization in twenty-four hours, 
or she would declare war on her. 

Negotiations by telegraph were carried on be- 
tween the Czar and the Kaiser and King George, 
but the dove of peace had flown and the lust for 
greed and gain—the desire to allow the smoulder- 
ing volcano of militarism to burst forth was great- 
er than the satisfaction to punish the culprit and 
loose the tension and let peace prevail. Germany 
declared war on Russia, whereupon France began 
to mobilize and Germany declared war on her. Ger- 
many must have had her campaign mapped out for 
years how she would attack France, knowing that 
the French frontier was armed to the teeth, she de- 
sired to go through Belgium and asked her per- 
mission, but Belgium refused because she was 
neutral with both Germany and England, guaran- 
teeing her neutrality. 

Germany declared war on Belgium, Py england 


120 BACK TO METHODISM 


declared war on her for breaking her promise to 
keep Belgium neutra] as they both agreed to do. 
England, also, declared war on Austria, being Ger- 
many’s ally. 

Japan, England’s ally, sent an ultimatum to Ger- 
many demanding that she withdraw all her troops 
from the far east and surrender Kiao Chow, the 
territory she leased from China. Germany refused 
and Japan declared war upon her; Austria de- 
clared war on Japan. “Whenst come wars and fight- 
ings among you, come they not hence even of your 
lust that war in your members?P” 

War makes angels bow their heads in grief and 
shame, and causes devils to exalt, when men who 
especially call themselves christians, butcher one 
another that thousands of dead bodies lay unbur- 
ried in the trenches and their blood soaks the ground 
and runs like water until it makes a river bed in 
its course to the sea. The groans of the wounded 
and limbless are heard above the rattling of the 
bayonets, or roaring of the cannons. Sherman has 
said, “War is hell.” 

We have given you a short epitome of the cause 
of the World’s War, but who can give a sufficient 
cause of all the suffering and blood shed? Germany 
puts it on England and says that the English were 
jealous of her commercial prosperity, and_ that, 
even she and France were bringing all sorts of 
barbarians to crush European civilization and cul- 
ture. Of course it was an easy matter for Ger- 


BACK TO METHODISM 12) 


many and France to go to war because there was 
an old jealousy existing between them since 1870, 
when Germany mercilessly crushed the very soul 
of France. Revenge is sweet to some, and France 
thought this her chance while there were so many 
strong nations against her common enemy. Aus- 
trians are of German blood, and Servians are of 
Russian blood, blood is thicker than water. 

Moses was in the king’s palace, but when he saw 
an Egyptian smiting an Israelite, his brother, he 
slew him and fled to the land of Media and remain- 
ed there until God called him and told him to return. 
to Egypt and bring his people out of bondage. 

What was the cause of the war? The text is the 
only answer, that is, their own lust brought all this 
misery and woe upon themselves. The nations 
left God out of their arrangements. They called on 
God for a sham, meaning nothing, then, too, they 
all call on the same God for success. God is the 
God of right, He does not change. Whatsoever is 
right will ultimately prevail. Only His spirit of 
justice and equity can set the world at peace. 

We should pray for peace, still if our prayers are 
directed from the manifestation of the teachings 
of the great teacher, Jesus Christ, they possibly 
would be more profitable than for the immediate 
cessation of the European strife. 

When this comes every man will be treated as a 
brother but as long as justice and tyranny and un- 
called for discrimination prevails, quarreling and 


122 BACK TO METHODISM 


fighting, brother going to war with brother, and 
even wars will continue. James says men’s lust 
causes war, that is, when men’s sins arise so high 
that they become an abomination to the Lord, He 
sometimes permits them to use the sword upon 
themselves, which is just as convenient to Him as 
an epidemic or a siege or a drought. 


WAR A SCHOOLMASTER 


Recall the great wars of the Romans, who were 
school masters, to bring the world to Christ. Re- 
member, the great Civil War of this country when 
the prayers of the slaves went up to God on His 
throne and the blood from their backs cried out to 
Him from the ground. Were not God’s hands in 
these wars? Was it Roman’s supremacy, or Lin- 
coln’s union that prevailed? No. In the case of 
Rome, it was the fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy. 
“Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain 
and hill shall be brought low and the crooked shall 
be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made 
smooth and all flesh shall see the salvation oi 
God.” 


With the war of 1861-65, it was the repeating of 
God’s message to Pharaoh, which said, “Thus saith 
the Lord God, let my people go.” There were no 
arms to stop the conquest of Rome, nor the final 
victory of the Union forces, for God was with them. 
“They stood at Armageddon anid battled for the 


BACK TO METHODISM 123 


Lord.” And the Lord discomforted Sisera and all 
his chariots and all his hosts with the edge of the 
sword before Barak, so that Sisera lighted down 
off his chariot and fled away on feet.” Judges 4:15 

What then is the logical cause of the war? Euro- 
pean arrogance over the dark skin races of the 
world has been a long reign of exploitation. They 
have used every race not white as slaves in some 
manner in the name of civilization, and taken away 
their lands and compelled them to dig their own 
silver and gold and diamonds. They made them 
make their products and load European ships with 
them—thus, pouring their wealth into European 
treasuries. Those who failed to do as much as 
these great tyrants expected or desired were maim- 
ed or imprisoned, or even killed. This reign of 
cheating and cruelty has been going on for hun- 
dreds of years. 


WATCH THE SIGNS OF THE TIME 


China’s eyes are coming open and she has hun- 
dreds of millions of subjects. Japan has already 
taken her place in the arena of nations and refused 
to be called white. India is fast awakening, she, too, 
has hundreds of millions of people. A little piece of 
leaven has been planted in Africa, the Republic of 
Liberia, to yet spread and leaven the whole lump 
of the teeming millions of black men. There are 
yet some American Indians and dark skin races in 


i24 BACK TO METHODISM 


South America, and the Isles of the sea, and Chris- 
tianity and education will of natural consequence 
be carried to them more and more each day. The 
races of color, the giants who have been sleeping 
for centuries, will soon awaken and join hearts and 
hands with God’s leaders for the spiritual redemp- 
tion of the world when justice shall reign and then 
shall peace flow like a river from ocean to ocean. 

Let the dark skin races draw nearer and nearer 
to God and stand still and see His hand turn the 
swords of the gods of the earth upon themselves. 
“And they stood still every man in his place around 
the camp, and the Lord set every man’s sword 
against his fellow, even throughout all the host.” 
Judge 7 :21-22. 


The dark skin races have, as a rule, been free 
from burdens and responsibilities for centuries with 
no strain upon their brains, nor profligacy to weak- 
en their bodies, therefore, they are sound in body, 
and like a child, fresh in mind. While on the other 
hand, the white race from long years of thinking 
with all accesses and characteristics of civilization 
are like the Romans, growing weak and nervous 
and irritable and quick to spill blood. Many of their, 
pulpits, exhortations, and the Hague peace temples 
are becoming a “sounding brass anda_ thinkling 
symbol” and they are destroying more of them- 
selves than any outside force at this time is able to 
do and thus making themselves weaker and fewer 
for the great day of reckoning. 


BACK TO METHODISM 125 


They have killed other races and retribution 
came and the hands which spilled so much blood 
were turned upon themselves and the living were 
unable to bury the dead. They killed in the name 
of civilization and that same_ civilization went 
through Belgium pillaging and laying waste and 
tumbling down her magnificent churches and leav- 
ing her beautiful walls, her science halls and art 
museums levelled with the ground. That same 
civilization has burnt homes and slaughtered old 
men, women and children. 

March with her through northern France and 
Galicia and witness her wake of ruin. Fly with her 
in the mid air and see her drop bombs upon the 
sick and dying, in hospitals and residences of non- 
combatants. Go with her under the sea and see 
her rush hundreds of inocent human beings without 
a moments notice into eternity. 

This is indeed a reflexive civilization, it kills men, 
so it says, to tame them, and then kills itself to re- 
compense for its wrongs. “Whom the gods destroy, 
they first make mad.” 


A GOOD REQUEST 


The president. governor and mayor asked us to 
make Oct 4, 1914, a day of prayer and exhortation 
for peace. A good request indeed, and God grant 
that every voice that cried to Him for universal 
peace desired, was heard. But no peace can be 
lasting and firm until the hearts of men are changed 


126 BACK TO METHODISM 


from wickedness to righteousness, from selfishness 
to benevolence and the strong cease to oppress the 
weak. No peace will be permanent until the rights 
of all men, no matter how humble, are respected 
and the mandate of God. “Thou shalt love thy 
neighbor as thyself” is fulfilled. 

As long as greed and gain aid the desire to fleece 
the poor and deter them by force, men will go to 
war. Our present economic system is based on dis- 
crimination and is all wrong and nothing but right 
can bring peace. Jesus said, “Behold, I come not to 
bring peace but a sword upon the earth.” Jesus 
alone can bring peace out of confusion, can calm 
the troubled sea, and still the boisterous winds. 


Thou only can touch the hearts of men with Thy 
spirit. Place thy banner of righteousness upon 


every fort, every battle field, upon every man-o- 
war, and every soldier and sailor’s heart, who thun- 
der forth death and destruction of their fellowmen. 
Let truth this day prevail; let pride and arrogance 
sicken and die, and let the beauty of the Lord shine 
forth as the noonday sun. Let the kingdoms of 
the earth become the Kingdom of the Lord, and 
then will (Is. 2:4-5) come to pass, which says, “And 
He shall judge many nations and they shall beat 
their swords into plowshares and their spears into 
pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up swerds 
against nations, neither shall they learn war any 
more.” 

“OQ, house of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in 
the light of the Lord.” 


BACK TO METHODISM 127 


CHAPTER XIV 
THE BUSINESS IN THE CHURCH 


This subject is of vital importance in running a 
church. When we see the great struggles many 
churches are having for existence and the mud- 
dies which unbusinesslike transactions are con- 
stantly bringing upon them, it is time to get to the 
bottom of things and see where the fault lies, 
whether in the people or in the lax business methods 
of the pastor and his officials. 

Have the people a natural desire for running their 
churches witn a sorry mendicant method or have 
the pastors and their officials failed to put things 
before them in a plain, clear cut businesslike way? 
In fact, every Methodist denomination should have 
a financial system uniformly running through and 
through the connection. 

Nothing can run itself. Everything must be sys- 
tematicaliy planned and guided, and through strict 
execution worked out to perfection. 

In the Methodist Church there are several de- 
partments depending on one another for a success- 
ful whole. 

We plan this little talk to mention the business 
side of each department of the church which we 


128 BACK TO METHODISM 


style under these captions: The Spiritual Church, 
The Temporal Church and the Social Church. 


SPIRITUAL CHURCH 


The Spiritual Church was founded by Christ in 
His own blood, and its chief aim is to bring men 
back to God. All other things in the Church 
should be subservient to this sacred end. 

Jesus came to earth to do business for His Fath- 
er, and He did not idle away any of His time; 
every moment was used in planning, laying the 
foundation, bringing results as the superstructure 
of His everlasting Church was reared—He neg- 
lected no part of His work. One part was as im- 
portant as another. 

It is profitable business to preach the gospel of 
good health in the congregation, also to have lec- 
tures from doctors and dentists and trained nurses 
and domestic scientists to take part in platform 
services. The Church should also teach good citt- 
zenship. Jesus sent Peter down to the sea to get 
a penny out of the fish’s mouth to pay their taxes. 
Thus the spiritual Church stands for health, love, 
obedience, law and order. 

Throughout Jesus’ life from the manger to the 
cross, every act was a business act, so that the 
apostles and fathers who immediately followed 
Him like their Lord were also strict business men. 
Real effective progess was made in the Church 


BACK TO METHODISM 129 


when the apostles divided the work into districts, 
that there would be no confusion as to jurisdic- 
tion. Peter went to Asia Minor; Paul to the Gen- 
tiles; John to the general church. They believed 
that anybody’s business was nobody’s business, 
but that some one should be responsible for some 
special duty entirely devolved on him. Each per- 
son in the early Church knew his place, what he 
‘had :to do in it, that is why the church was 
strong and progressed and grew despite the com- 
bined powers of the pagan and Jewish world 
against it. 

Every step made for the church was thrown on 
the trestle board before it was made. The plights 
and plunderinys, sufferings and martyrdom of the 
saints were all calculated to rear this spiritual 
heritage, despite the times when an apathy fell 
upon her, and selfish designers neglected the King’s 
business, no matter when these dormant listless 
torpers pervaded God always had a Moses’ who 
awoke her from her hibernation to revivals and 
saving souls. 


BACK-BONE IN THE MINISTRY 


The pastor and his officers are God’s business 
men in the spiritual church. It was a great advant- 
age to have the spiritual work done in a business- 
like way, never putting the temporal work before 
the spiritual. The spiritual work will give life 


130 BACK TO METHODISM 

and success to all the rest. We give an instance. 
At a Church we pastored, debtors were crowding 
upon us. We had just gone to the charge; the 
people were dunned and discouraged—and even 
threats of shcriff seizure had come to them. The 
officers were on their tiptoes to hear what plans 
the new pastor had to raise some money to meet 
the immediate necessities, when to their surprise 
and disgust, he announced from his pulpit on Sun- 
day, “I believe in God and His protection. I believe 
what Jesus said, ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of 
heaven, and all things will be added unto you.’ We 
are going to have one week of prayer prepara- 
tory to a revival meeting in this Church, beginning 
immediately after the first Sunday in February.” 
We wish vou could have heard the serious objec- 
tions from the trustees and their sympathizers; it 
took only divine backing to stand the storm of pro- 
test which foliowed. We told the stewards what 
we had planned and more than half of them agreed 
with the trustees that a rally at that time was more 
important than a revival. As Paul said, “None 
of these things moved me.” We proceded with 
the spiritual plans which the Lord wonderfully 
blessed and three hundred souls were added to the 
church. While the meeting was going on we called 
the men together on a Monday evening and asked 
them to loan sufficient money to meet the press- 
ing needs—so anxious were they that the splendid 
spiritual meeting not be stopped that one brother 


BACK TO METHODISM 13} 


and friend—God rest his ashes (F. J. Acosta)— 
placed $1000 in our hands for the church to be used 
as long as we needed it; another broad-hearted 
brother—also lamented (J. M. Glass) loaned $500 
to be returned whenever we could pay. Lots of 
other loans from $18.00 to $250.00 were made. All 
who could not loan (and we took nothing  be- 
low $15.00) were permitted to give this emergency 
fund. Many gave $5.00 and $10.00. However, we 
raised over $4500 on one Monday night. Thus 
the meeting went on and we had money too. After 
the meeting was over we put on a rally and raised 
sufficient, and over, to pay all who had loaned us, 
we never stopped rallying until thousands of doliars 
were raised. Our church was completed and all 
mortgages were paid as well as floating debts. 
Keep the Spirit in the church, money will come. 
We pastored another church where the officers ob- 
jected to us running revival on Saturday, saying it 
would interfere with their business, many of them 
being merchants. We told them that we were go- 
ing to carry on our meeting if no one but the pas- 
tor, his wife and the sexton attended. They took 
us at our word and Saturday night no one was in 
the church but wife and I. The sexton lighted the 
church and left. She and I sang and prayed and just 
when we were going to take our text, and preach 
for the edification of ourselves, determining we 
would not be ovtdone, since the devil did not close 
up for us on Sunday, just here a young married 


132 BACK TO METHODISM 


woman came in and sat by my wife. She was 
unconverted. We preached from the text, “What 
think ye of Christ?” She was happily converted 
as we sang, “Come into my heart, Lord Jesus.” She 
was a real Methodist, and testified so loudly for 
the Lord that the church was crowded with people 
in a short time. From that effort of standing up 
for the spiritual side of the church more than one 
hundred and seventy-five souls were brought to 
Christ. We had no more trouble in that charge to 
do spiritual things over those temporal. The Church 
and parsonage were renovated and all debts paid 
and some breaking general days for benevolence 
were observed. 

Another instance for standing up for the spiritual 
church occurred this way: A sinner died who was 
never a member of the church, but would curse 
churches and church people, preachers not excepted. 
He died a drastic death, being killed by electricity. 
Because he was a member of a secret society they 
wanted him brought into the church and a big dis- 
play made over him. We objected and some of 
the officers and members thought us horrible to re- 
fuse to let a man like Mr. A’s body be brought 
into the church. They decided not to pay the pas- 
tor’s salary. it being the first Sundav, pastor’s day. 
The pastor said, “If you desire, I will go down to 
the undertaker’s parlor and funeralize his body for 
you, but he shall not come into this church.” They 
yielded and the pastor went to the undertaker’s 


BACK TO METHODISM 133 


parlor and did his duty. He held his morning’s 
services which were slimly attended, but at night 
the church was packed to hear the great fall off of 
salary threatened all day long because he did, not 
allow the great Mr. A’s body in the church. Here is 
what really happened. A band of sinners got to- 
gether, raised more money for the pastor that first 
Sunday than he ever received from that charge 
during his pastorate there of three years. The 
amusing thing about it was when the Christians 
saw what the sinners had done, they, too, gave 
more liberally than ever before. 


God has all the money; it was here when we 
came; it will be here when we are gone. Back- 
bone in the ministry is one of God’s gifts. Coward- 
ice, fearing they will cut off your bread, unfits any 
man to do business for God. The constitution of 
the spiritual church was written in heaven and 
handed down to Moses from Mt. Sinai and was 
ratified and sealed by Jesus Christ on Mt. Calvary 
where He perfected His wonderful plan of salvation. 
The pastor and his stewards are God’s business men 
sn the spiritual church. 

It is a great advantage to run the spiritual church 
in a businesslike way. For instance, no Methodist 
Church, no matter how large or small, should neg- 
lect to hold official board. 


134 BACK TO METHODISM 
OFFICIAI. BOARD 


The official board is not what some think it is. It 
is not the place for wrangles and venting of old. 
spite and petty jealousies. It is not the place to try 
anybody, it is the place where exhorters and local 
preachers can exercise their gifts and graces by 
opening the same with religious worship each 
week. It is the place where the class _ leaders 
report the condition of their classes, as to who 
is sick and needs the attention of the pas- 
tor; who is walking disorderly and will 
not be reproved; who has left the society 
with or without certificate; what has been collected 
by the class leaders for the support of the pastor, 
presiding elder, the sick and poor. Here the leaders 
pay same over to the stewards, one of whom is 
secretary of the official board. If the board does 
not have an hour to open and one to close, much 
valuable time will be lost. In wirter 7:30 to 9:30 
P. M.; in summer 8:00 to 10:00 P. M. are appro- 
priate hours. With good executive ability on be- 
half of the pastor, who is chairman, all business 
can be done in these two hours—if not, the board 
should adjourn anyhow. As all experienced pastors. 
know if one sticks to the questions and answers 
per discipline, there is scarcely anything left over 
from one board meeting to another. Maybe when 
you first begin to do real business, they would 


BACK TO METHODISM 135 


either fall in line with your plans or drop out of the 
board. 

We know a pastor who held official board meet- 
ing in a church which had fifty-two classes in forty- 
five minures and afterwards held small institutes 
each week tc enlighten the brethren intellectually. 
They read short papers on current and religious 
topics and had open discussions on them to the 
edification of all. This method drew crowds not 
members of the board to be entertained and the 
class meeting became equally as important and 
large. Quarrels were things of the past. A love 
feast prevailed at all meetings. 


It is aiso a good thing to have some system classi- 
fying the local days of church. You will find that 
your service will be of more value by so doing. In 
Methodism the General Church tells of the several 
days it wishes observed which no one has the right 
to change; anyone who does so is a lawbreaker. 
The days not specified by the general or annual con- 
ference may be used at the discretion of the pastor 
and his officials to facilitate the work of their 
church. 


A, FEW RULES 


Have a local children’s day one Sunday in each 
month, when you preach to the children and baptize 
all infants. The congregation will look for this 
and prepare their children to that end. Do not 


136 BACK TO METHODISM 


baptize any child at the church until then; if the: 
child is sick baptize it at home. A busy pastor can. 
save himself and his stewardesses much annoyance 
in this way from those who bring their children to 
be baptized without notice, often when you are 
about to sing doxology. 


Don’t forget to speak to the Christian Endeavor 
the Sunday afternoon that you spoke to the Sunday 
School in the morning. Too little attention is paid 
to our children and youth by the pastors and of- 
ficials. 


Begin your service on time and end in the same 
manner, so that those who attend services will 
know when to come and when they will be dis- 
missed. This has been one of the things which has 
killed night services in so many churches. Good 
manners do not permit some people to leave ser- 
vices before closing, so rather than appear rude 
they stay away when they know they are to be 
kept late. 


BUSINESS IN THE MID-WEEK MEETINGS 


Don’t depart from Methodism. Let one of the 
leaders with a local preacher open the class meeting 
each week, until each one has had the opportunity 
to serve. It was lay spiritual fire which helped to 
set Methodism into a flame. But make a rule and 
see to it that all obey it, that the hymns, Scripture 
lesson with short comment, all must be done in a 
half hour. If the brother attempts to take longer, 


BACK TO METHODISM 137 


he should be stopped that the rest of the meeting 
may go on and en! on time. 

In coming to the communion table, all should 
come up on one side of the church and go down on 
the other side. No wild unsystematic rush should 
be tolerated, but order and symmetry should 
characterize the sacred celebration of the suffering 
and death of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Really, there should be no ‘sunday funerals at the 
church. They ruin the Lord’s day and_ stop the 
worshippers who when the funeral is over are too 
tired to attend other services. If, however, you 
do have Sunday funerals never have any in the 
morning. Let them occur between the hours of 
1:00 to 4:00 P. M. The man or woman who lived 
a Christian life does not need to encroach on the 
Lord’s Day services to draw a crowd to his or her 
funeral. Real business will sometimes make you 
say, yes or no—the Lord help the minister and his 
officers who have no moral courage. The pastor 
and his stewards are the spiritual fathers of the 
church. All inside the altar rail is their territory. 
The steward is to the pastor what the pastor is to 
the presiding elder and what the presiding elder is 
to the Bishop; each in his sphere is a kind of body 
guard to his superior and is indispensable to the 
success of the Methodist Church. A steward should 
be consecrated to his work as the ears and the eyes 
of the pastor in the congregation. 

Any steward who is not in harmony with the 


138 BACK TO METHODISM 


spiritual plans of the pastor, should get out of his 
cabinet. If he fights Godly plans for the advance- 
ment of the Church and will not resign, he should 
be left out of the pastor’s nominations at the prop- 
er time if he can be borne until then. On the other 
hand, the pastor should remember that these mer 
are his advisors and have a perfect right to advise 
in the meeting of the stewards’ board. Every sensi- 
ble pastor will listen to what the stewards say 
even if he over-rules the board on some of the 
issues, which he has the perfect right to do. The 
stewardesses are the creatures of the pastor and 
his stewards; they are members of the official board 
and quarterly conference--sacred indeed are their 
duties—attending around the communion table and 
assisting the stewards rendering service to the pas- 
tor as he administers the Lord’s Supper and bap- 
tism. 

There is a tendency among some of the brethren 
to have from two to four stewardess boards in the 
Methodist Church, which is all wrong, there can be 
but one such board, numbering three, five, seven or 
nine, not more than nine women. There may be 
an assistant stewardess board. But remember, only 
ene board can function at a time, per discipline. 

Deaconesses are twelve consecrated women and 
only the women who are set aside for the office by 
the bishop of the diocese. They are like the Dorcas 
of old, to feed the hungry, clothe the naked. and 
comfort the poor and distressed in their communi- 


BACK TO METHODISM 139 


ties. They are members of the quarterly confer- 
ence. These women if active, are also a spiendid 
business asset to the church, for when a kind act 
is done for an unfortunate person, and he recovers 
and gets upon his feet, he remembers the bridge 
over which he crossed and often large sums have 
been given these women to build and maintain 
Deaconess Homes and aid others through such 
persons. 

Missionary ladies when active are also great helps 
to the church. They should report every quarterly 
conference what they have collected for missions. 
These kind of missionary women are useful to the 
church. 

A worthy local preacher who wishes to enter 
the ministry is always on hand to be used by the 
pastor. He never tries to be pastor and run things 
or pouts if his will is brooked, but all local 
preachers, regardless of their rank, know their bus- 
iness is to assist the pastor, not boss or lead him. 
The pastor is to take charge of the members of his 
church, preachers not excluded. 

The pastor is the official head of the choir; no 
body shall be put in or taken out without his con- 
sent (per discipline). No person who is uncon- 
verted should sing in the choir. Socrates says, 
“One must feel what he says to make others feel it.” 

There is a minister not far removed from this 
writing who preached at a Metropolitan Church 
on one Sunday morning, and all said the services 


140 BACK TO METHODISM 


were full of the Spirit, but upon opening the doors 
of the church, the pastor asked the chorister to 
designate some one to lead the song, “I dream- 
ed of the great judgment day,” all joined in the 
chorus. The effort to get any one to join the 
church was a complete failure. No sooner than the 
services were over the pastor’s wife said to him, 
“Why did you kill that beautiful altar service by 
allowing that rank sinner to sing to sinners?” My 
Lord, how true. Why should one who needs to be 
sung to herself, be allowed to sing to sinners? The 
pastor explained to his wife that he did not know 
that an unconverted person was going to sing. 
Maybe not, but what was she doing in the spiritual 
choir, where only awakened persons should be? 
Don’t have unconverted singers in your choir. The 
minister who preached for this brother disbanded 
a large choir and made it over, in order to get two 
unconverted persons out of it. When the chorister 
objected he was dismissed. It was the salvation 
of the choir and new life to the church. 


BUSINESS IN THE SOCIAL CHURCH 


The minister and the officials must put some busi- 
ness into the social side of their church. In these 
times of vast allurements as the theatres, moving 
pictures and dancing halls, and what not, to entice 
the young people, if something is not done to off- 
set these influences, the church cannot hope to hold 


BACK TO METHODISM 141 


them. Notwithstanding, you may stand up in your 
pulpit and decry these things in the strongest lan- 
guage, yet, many people will leave you if you don’t 
have something to offset these antagonistic influ- 
ences. Divide your church up into as many clubs 
as you have members, that is, do not allow any 
one to be idle in the church. See to it that each club 
is reguiarly organized. 


We organized clubs in a church we once pastor- 
ed, excepting deaconess and stewardess boards 
which met once a month, all other clubs met once a 
week. Such clubs as the Lady Ushers, Pulpit Aid, 
Auxiliaries, 1, 2,3 and 4, Christian Endeavor League 
Board, Sunday School Board, all held social func- 
tions from house to house, when literary and musi- 
cal programs were rendered and repasts served. 
Wherever the meeting was held, that member was 
the hostess. So spiritually good were those meet- 
ings that several persons were converted upon their 
attendance, while they kept the young people of 
the church from many evils. In a rally these 
boards laid on the table in one effort $1938.76; thus 
a social effort was here turned into business for 
both the temporal and spiritual church. The min- 
ister and his officers who never find time to give to 
this important branch of the church work, will find 
his lack of zeal bad business. 


142 BACK. TO METHODISM 


BUSINESS IN THE TEMPORAL CHURCH 


God gave man three forms of government, viz: 
the monarchial, oligarchial and democratic forms. 
Hence, our several church polities, each specify- 
ing its modes of running the different denomina- 
tions and civil governments. Every country places 
its requirements upon its citizens, and no foreigner 
can be naturalized and receive the protection of 
the flag and be given the rights and privileges as 
those to the manor born, without first their taking 
the oath of allegiance and subscribing to the laws 
and promising to defend the flag of his adopted 
country. None of the secret or benevolent societies 
will allow one to receive benefits without conform- 
ing to the rules and regulations governing them. It 
is the business of the emperor, king or president, 
to see that all comply with these requirements. 
After conversion and our confession to Almighty 
God, we enter the spiritual church, and then we 
promise to be cheerfully governed by the discipline. 
Thus we come into the temporal church. 

The pastor and the trustees are the fathers of the 
temporal church and should make quarterly reports 
to the people of the collections and expenditures of 
their funds. They should outline the work to be 
done at the beginning of the year. Every busi- 
ness man knows whom he owes and who owes him; 
so should the church know who owes it and whom 
it Owes. 


BACK TO METHODISM 143 


Remember there is a difference between duty and 
benevolence or between paying dues and charity. 
What you give to education, missions, the sick and 
the poor is benevolence. You have not given a cent 
when you pay your dues. There should be kept 
an individual record of each member of the church, 
giving him a financial statement on which is print- 
ed al! dues for the stewards indicated above—be- 
sides which there shall be a leader’s report blank in 
duplicate, stating all monies here received from 
the members each week for any cause 
of the church which is signed by the lead- 
er, read before the body, and a _ copy turned 
over to the secretary of the steward board 
The trustees should lift all of their assessments by 
envelopes, with space for name of the donor, which 
results should also be recorded by the secretary of 
their department. In this way, you can easily see 
what every member owes the church for any 
cause whatever, so that at each quarter, just before 
the presiding elder comes, you should send out 
statements to all delinquents asking them to pay 
up and begin the new quarter afresh. Don’t destroy 
the legal boards made by the general church. The 
steward and the trustees board have different func- 
tions and each should operate in its own sphere 
without being hindered by the other. Run the church 
on a business basis as a good business man runs 
his private affairs. If the pastor and his officers will 
take the lead the members will follow them. When 


144 BACK TO METHODISM 


you do real business you prove to the church who 
loves her. An open book business is the only hon- 
est pian. The old expression. “This is trustees 
and stewards business, you have nothing to do 
with it” will hinder you. Wherever a man puts 
his money it is his business to know how it is spent. 
Let the people know what you are doing with their 
money and they will put it where you can get it 
when you need it: otherwise the doors of gene- 
rosity will be closed against you in the most needy 
time. The pastor should get around him the best 
informed officials he can gather in his church. 

For the Lord’s sake don’t use the men who are 
unfitted for the work just because they will say 
yes to everything you say—it is poor business. It 
is good to have an honest difference of opinion 
upon any vital issue. 

The ministry has always had in its ranks some 
of the strongest men of all ages, artisans and geni- 
uses of every handicraft, who like the apostles 
ieft all to follow the lowly Lamb. Talk is cheap—- 
theories are fanciful, but shams will not do. No 
matter what your field of labor only real practical 
success 1s what the world wants and will have. 
One of the greatest helps to the success of any pas- 
tor is to get and keep the confidence of the congre- 
gation. 

To do this, brother pastor, don’t handle the peo- 
ple’s money other than that the stewards pay to 
you for salary, but see to it that every cent is 


BACK TO METHODISM 145 


spent rightfully. Don’t try to run the church alone, 
let the officers help you. The laymembers are 
glad to aid the pastor who will give them the 
chance. The pastor who thinks he can run the 
church alone, will find that he will run it in the 
ground. 

The business pastor will not only preach the gos- 
pel and administer to the sick and bury the dead, 
but he will take absolute charge of his church. He 
will direct, per his discipline, a central government 
in his church and in it have men and women of value 
to himself and the people they represent. They 
must be all around business men and women—social 
peers and spiritual lights for the congregation and 
communities. In this age of the material graft and 
worldly gain the business pastor and his officers 
help to save many weak persons from pitfalls and 
disgrace. Because business is the true record of the 
doings of the church generally, but more particu- 
larly that of the temporal affairs of the church, so 
handle the affairs of the church that all may know 
what comes in and what goes out. 

Be square with your people, hide nothing from 
them, regarding their money; pay out nothing 
without a voucher, which means wherever it is 
practical have a bank account in the church’s name 
and draw the funds by check. 

You doubtless notice through this little business 
talk that the strain was on the square deal, each 
to his fellow; no flim-flam business will profit; in 


146 BACK TO METHODISM 


the long run, only honest dealing will count. If 
tricks and schemes would prosper, they should 
have no place in the church or its affairs. If you 
cannct go to the church for a square deal, then, 
please tell me where to find it. , 

We have written on business in the church from 
personal experience. This chapter may be called 
a short discourse in pastoral theology. Whatever 
it may be called, the writer had but one aim, that 
is, that there should be real business in God/s 
Church. 


BACK TO METHODISM 147 


CHAPTER XV. 
TOES WOR DSMIEATLSY BACKSLIDING 


GOD HAS HIS OWN WAY TO DEAL WITH HIS 
CREATURES 


667 


Phen will I sprinkle clean water upon you and 
ye shall be clean from all your filthiness and from 
all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart, also, 
will I give you and a new spirit will I put within 
you, I will take away the stony heart out of your 
flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will 
put my spirit in you and cause you to walk in my 
statutes and ye shall keep my judgments and do 
them, +ze.936::25-27. 

In the year 587, B. C., the Jews were in Baby- 
lonian captivity. Several years before this, they 
were in dreadful afflictions, because of their sins 
and disobedience to God. Now we find them scat- 
tered all over the Assyrian Empire, where they 
hung their harps on the willow trees by the rivers, 
Chebar and Euphrates, drooped in sackcoth and 
ashes mourning their calamity. 

God has his own way to deal with His creatures, 
meting out justice and mercy, reward and pun- 
ishment to them according to their works. To the 
good He gives peace of conscience and constant 


148 BACK TO METHODISM 


protection, long life and happiness, whether an 
individual, city or state, the results are just the 
same; to the profligates who spurn His will and 
protection and withdraw themselves from Him, 
whether the individual, the city or state, He often 
sends upon them a large fire, an earthquake, famine, 
pestilence, violent epidemic, or even the sword to 
purge them and bring them back to their senses, 
or utterly destroy them. If we change the figure 
and carry the physical into the spiritual realm by 
metonymy the person stands for the individual, 
the city stands for the class, the congregation for 
the state and the nation for the denomination in 
Methodism. 

The wicked, unconcerned individual seals his own 
doom daily, whether he is in or out of the Church. 
Such a class in the Church dwindles away because 
the spiritual fire, conscience and duty, in a live 
congregation, soon consumes it. If the Church it- 
self has no God in it, it will only stumble clumsily 
along and eventually pine away and die. If the de- 
nomination fails to perform its duty and betrays its 
trust to God, God in turn will bring many evils 
upon it and even permit devils to creep into it, 
that it may be either cleansed through inward con- 
flicts or its continual abuses will sound the knell of 
its final ruin. Let us hold Methodism sacred. The 
Israelites were God’s favorite people. He took 
special pleasure in supplying them with their every 
need. ‘When He planted them in Palestine He 


BACK TO METHODISM 149 


intended that they should pitch there a true, re- 
ligious tent. In that tent He desired them to light 
a candle and keep it burning so that the nations of 
the globe might see the way to Zion’s Hill and go 
up there to dwell in the light of the Lord where 
the sceptre was to remain in Judah’s hand until 
‘Shiloh came. But Israel sinned first as individuals, 
and then, as a nation, and their sins wrought havoc 
and the tent was tumbled down and the light extin- 
guished and they remained in darkness from the 
prophet Malachi (397 B. C.) to John the Baptist, 
(27:A. D.) who came crying, “Repent ye for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand.” There was no 
voice from God for 424 years. 


DANGER AHEAD 


God intended the Jews to be a nation whose 
throne would be in heaven, but they went opposite 
and yearned to be like the heathen about them, with 
kings, horses and chariots, and these soon gave them 
desire to make idols and serve strange gods. It 
was the thing which made the Lord angry and 
provoked Him to swift and relentless judgment 
against Israel. They served Him when they were 
in trouble but as soon as their afflictions were 
passed and prosperity returned they forsook their 
first love and went after strange gods who had 
done nothing for them, and could do nothing but 
lead them to destruction. 

To tell the whole truth in a few words, no wicked 


150 BACK TO METHODISM 


family, Church or state can stand long in the sight 
of God. The Israelites became ungrateful despite 
all God did for them, and He did more for them 
than for any other people up to their establishment. 
Let the Methodists watch this point of Israel’s 
life and see to it that their stumbling block is not 
theirs also. 

We need not go through their whole history. 
The Lord planted them as a little vine in Canaan 
and nourished and guarded them through all their 
dangers even from Egyptian bondage to the glory 
of the grandeur of Solomon’s vast dominion where 
peace and prosperity reigned from Dan to Bethshe- 
ba. Remember that all of these blessings did not 
come to them for what they had done for the 
Lord. The Lord is independent, He owns the 
universe, none of His creatures can add anything 
to His honor nor take anything from it. He is sepa- 
rate and apart from all His creatures and what He 
does for them, He does because He loves the works 
of His hands and not by any force or compulsion 
whatever. The prophets’ hearts and souls are here 
poured out ta God in this passage of Scripture for 
His gracious to an ungrateful people. 


TROUBLE OFTEN BRINGS REPENTANCE 


The children of Israel had sinned and were pun- 
ished by the Lord in various ways—they had often 
been stricken with famine. Let us draw a little 
picture of an eastern famine. These seasons are 


BACK TO METHODISM 151 


ushered in by a long drought; the rain which furn- 
ishes drink to men and beasts and waters the crops 
is stayed, not even the midnight dew comes to 
kiss the thirsty scorched earth and withered trees. 
On goes this cruel slayer of all sentient beings and 
vegetation. 

Look! see the frogs leaving their dry ponds to 
perish, and the fish dying and stinking all around 
in the dried up rivers and lake beds; the birds flying 
in the search of water and dropping in their weak- 
ness and dying and helping to increase the already 
overbearing stench. See, the cattle upon a thous- 
and dry hills, no shade trees, no water, no green 
herbs, their tongues hanging out. Listen to their 
pitiful beliowing as they sink under the burning 
sun and die. These are terrible times, there is mo 
oil in the cruse, no corn in the crib, no wine in the 
cellar; men are leaving their homes to seek a land 
where the windows of heaven are still open and 
health and life are still secured. But thousands 
die on the way before they reach their goal and He 
spreads the length and breadth of the famine to 
accomplish His purpose of destruction. 

Often when trouble came upon the people they 
repented and begged God’s forgiveness and His 
bowels of compassion melted and He sprang to 
their relief so often that they began to mock Him. 
For as soon as their pitiful cries were heard and 
prosperity returned, they forgot all the wonder 
He had wrought for them and idolatry took the 


152 BACK TO METHODISM 


place of true worship and pride and indifference 
that of meekness and zealousness. 

Mark this: As long as the Israelites lived true 
to God, no people stood before them, but instead 
all nations feared and. respected them. But the 
moment sin became their national weakness, the 
most insignificent people arose against them and 
prevailed, while the mighty nations as Babylon lay 
waste, and pillaged the sacred things of their land 
and spoiied the temple and carried away the proud 
daughters of Israel into captiv‘tv and defilement. 
At this period the Israelites were not at home, 
but in Babylon under hard taskmasters and from 
the presence of God. All over Babylon their cries 
were heard, this now distracted people prayed for 
mercy, but they were answered with hardships and 
abuse. They were now at the lowest water mark 
with no human relief available, with the anger of 
the Lord kindled against them. Some of them 
were even strangers to God, unable to speak their 
mother’s tongue; the ancient worship their fathers 
used was forgotten. 

Apostacy had visited them and afflictions one 
after another, until captivity here seemed to seal 
their doom and thorough ruin. Those whose ways 
and gods the Lord’s people had envied and never 
rested until they had become like them are now 
their masters and laugh at their calamity, saying, 
aha, aha! We decoyed you and pulled you out of 
your rock of defense from the God of your security 


BACK TO METHODISM 153 


and caused you to forsake Him and now your land 
is spoiled and yourselves in bondage. 

In like manner, this will happen to the Methodists 
when we change our mission to the world. As long 
as Methodism lives in her own house, there need 
be no fear for her perpetuity. “God of our fathers, 
be with us yet, Lest we forget, lest we forget.” 

Don’t envy the wicked, don’t try to be like them, 
never bow your knees to them; stand strong for 
it is the chief traits of the unrighteous to trap you 
that they may do their evil deeds with none to 
condemn them. The enemy has many agents in 
human forms and are in every walk of life. They 
present all kinds of inducements, failing this way. 
they manufacture malicious and ruinous slander to 
blind the eyes of the world to their sinful deeds, 
while placing their guilt upon some innocent per- 
son saying, there are no good people, but all like 
themselves, had. 

No, no, do not let them decoy you, let them say 
what they will, you live in the light of the gospel. 
you strive to imitate your Saviour’s examples. 
Tell them there are not enough of Satan’s agents 
on earth to stop your onward move, despite all, you 
are going to serve Jesus. 

But foolish man, what benefits would you derive 
if you trap and drag in to your net the whole 
world? Your being the instrument that wrought 
others’ damnation would only make hell hotter 
for you. As the Christian will add stars to his 


154 BACK TO METHODISM 


crown for bringing souls to Christ, so will the 
wicked add plagues to their misery in leading others 
to Satan. 

After every other human effort had failed, the 
people realized that no other arm than God’s was 
able to save them. So all over Babylon, whither 
the L.ord had scattered them, they asked God to 
remember Abraham, Isaac and Jacob once more 
and lift from their lips the gall of bitterness. 


A PRIVILEGE TO BE A CHILD OF GOD 


It is a good thing to be a child of God and to 
know Him as a sin forgiving sympathetic Lord, 
who will hear the prayer of His repenting children. 
See to it that you have been converted and know 
God as your father. Don’t be as the man who en- 
tered the marriage supper, without having on the 
wedding garment. 

God hears the driver’s whip, He sees the stripes 
he inflicts: He hears the cries of the innocent, 
mingled with the guilty repentant rebels, there- 
fore, He concludes to try them once more _ for 
David’s sake, so He warms up the soul of Ezekiel, 
and tells him of the gracious deliverance of Israel, 
He is soon te bring to pass. Cease your mourning, 
{ have heard you, I will sprinkle you with clean 
water and reconsecrate you as a holy people with an 
invincible God. 

Notice, God uses the mode of sprinkling here 
while He goes on to show that the other deeds 


BACK TO METHODISM 155 


which must follow are the ones where the true 
efficiency or the seat of right motives and true 
Christianity lie. Water then, no matter how ap- 
plied, whether sprinkled, dipped, poured or im- 
mersed, is an outside sign of an inside cleansing. 
Bear in mind, too, that the water does not do the 
work of regeneration, nor is it done until God 
takes out the heart of stone in us and gives us in- 
stead, a heart of flesh, for the heart is 
the council chamber of the whole man. As 
fast as our brains conceive the thought which 
flashes through our mind, it is conveyed to the 
heart where it is either dismissed or harbored to 
the good or evil of our future life. 

God, therefore, puts a new heart into the con- 
fessed, sprinkled, washed sinner and removes his 
old heart stone. A fleshy heart makes you love 
God’s Church and His cause and your sisters and 
brothers. To this God tells the prophets, He will 
add a right spirit. 

The world has all kinds of spirits in rt. Still, 
there is but one right spirit, and that is the Spirit 
of Jesus Christ. That is the trouble with the Church 
today, there are too many spirits in it. The out- 
side enemies are not half as perilous to the Church’s 
progress as the hypocrites in her miast. 

Does it require your life today to say you are a 
Christian; are there any courts of inquisition con- 
stantly seeking out our places of worship, that we 
may be led away to bias judges, who have ever list- 


156 BACK TO METHODISM 


ening ears repugnant to the word ‘Christianity’ who 
stand ready to condemn us and cast us to the wild 
beasts and flames? Are we any longer compelled 
to go away down in the bowels of the earth, like 
the early Christians who went into the catacombs 
of Rome, or in some deserted places on the moun- 
tains to own the Saviour? No, thank God, no, 
but now, in the deep valleys, on the high hills, upon 
the sea, to the ends of the earth, the strains of 
Jesus, the Name high over all, is heard and there 
are none to say, nay. Has the infidel’s propaganda 
today any more bearing upon the peoples’ minds, or 
the skeptics doubts, with any more complacency 
heard to the injury of our Saviour’s cause in the 
land, than the former time? Have the philosophers 
any charm for the students, or their science any 
arguments which have been refuted by equally as 
learned heralds of the cross to the satisfaction of 
all? Where, then, are the dangers of the outside 
enemies’ stumbling block to the Church? Why, 
then, do the fastidious waste any more of their 
precious time discussing old dead issues long ago 
established as truisms? 

Rather, let us, both pulpits and pews, turn our 
attention to one of our Saviour’s main texts, viz: 
Physicians, heal thyself, and then tell others of 
their infirmities.” Truly, friends, we have to a 
great extent, as the Methodist Church, moved away 
from the old time customs and usages; when men 
used to be sorry for their sins and demonstrated it 


BACK TO METHODISM 157 


in tears and confessed Christ before they were tak- 
en into the Church. | 

The Church has more to fear from devils who 
have crept into her folds than from any outside 
power of Satan. While the ministers and people 
are busy contenting themselves with beautiful cath- 
edrals, high social sway, and large rallies, the gay 
city life, with its temptations and seductions are 
luring our strong youth from the rural districts 
and from under our very noses, our homes and 
Sunday schools and leading them to ruin. 

The Church needed defenders in the early days of 
Methodism and the fathers stood up for her. She 
needs them worse today to fight traitors who have 
gotten into the ranks. Will you stand up? This 
rule that suggests these remarks gives us the 
blessed assurance that Jesus will help us as God 
helped Israel to become cleaner and better each day. 
Through prayer and faith we can break down every 
idol in our hearts and draw nearer to the perfection 
of His love. 

May God inspire us as Methodists to still be- 
lieve in the heartfelt religion which will change 
every stony desire to that of flesh and spirit and 
life. 


158 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER XVI. 


SOLILOQUIES ON BAPTISM AND THE ATON- 
MENT 


TENDENCY OF HUMAN NATURE TO EXALT THE 
SIGN ABOVE THE THING SIGNIFIED 


“For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach 
the gospel, not with wisdom of words—lest the 
cross of Christ be made of non-effect.” I Cor. 1:17. 

The apostle Paul who wrote these words was 
eminently a man of one subject and that was 
Christ, in His person, works, and office—this he 
proved by preaching the gospel directly after his 
conversion, and throughout his life, Christ was 
his theme at Jerusalem and Antioch—in the syna- 
gogues and in the jail at Athens and at Rome, to 
the sages and to the princes, to the philosophers 
and theologians, as well as to the strict Jews and 
the unlearned Gentiles. He devoted His chief 
thoughts to the life and works of his Saviour to 
learn more and more of Him, that as an apostle 
commissioned to preach to a lost world, he would 
make the law of Jesus and His cross the greatest 
theme in his life. Paul wanted his converts to 
receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost and to know 
that their sins were washed away by the blicod of 


BACK TO METHODISM 159 


Christ; of so little value was baptism to him that 
he hardly knew whom he had baptized. He thought 
it was his business to preach the glad tidings of 
peace and_ reconciliation to God through Christ 
which he said was the sum and substance of the 
whole matter. Christ’s crucifixion, the foundation 
of the hope and the salvation of all believers 
regardless to their creed or Church polity. 
The Jews desired signs and wonders,  sea- 
sons, feasts and fasts. All religious forms 
and ceremonies, which they thought worship more 
than a lowly contribute heart. 

The tendency of human nature is to exalt the 
sign above the thing signified. Many who have 
adopted the literal cross as an emblem of the suffer- 
ing Christ, are ignorant of the real Christ. 


SALVATION NOT IN WATER, BUT IN THE BLOOD 
OF CHRISE 


The real salvation of the race lies not in the 
waters of baptism but in the blood of Christ. Some 
think to be baptized is to be regenerated, but God 
_is a Spirit and he who comes to Him must come 
in spirit and truth. So that the essential thing 
with Him is to receive the baptismal fire and works 
among our fellowmen. When Christ said on the 
cross, “It is finished”, He meant the full measure 
of His words—He meant that the atonement was 
completed, that nothing could be added to the cross 


160 BACK TO METHODISM 


when we try to add to it, we cover and belittle its 
grandeur and power. 

Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the 
gospel, to proclaim the best news the world has 
ever heard to bind, up its broken heart, to loose the 
captives, and to carry light to those who sit in 
darkness. Preach Christ no matter what men say, 
preach as He Himself preached when He was with 
us on earth; let men make their creeds and form 
their modes of worship, but tell them, “Behold 
the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sins of the 
world.” This news is so good that Christ, said, 
“Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel to 
every creature.”. Do not wait for them to come 
to you, but go to them; go because the world needs 
you; go because I send you; go in my Spirit, go 
in my humility; go in my power and in my com- 
pany, “for lo, I am with you always.” Preach the 
gospel for it is your distinct office—preach it as 
T have taught you to preach it—preach it not as a 
gospel, but as the gospel of glad tidings, eminently 
more gladdening than all the tidings ever heard. 
Many people of today are disputing about creeds 
and mode of baptism, others are arguing whether 
Calvin or Aminius, whether Luther or Malanthan, 
whether the Protestant or the Roman Catholic 
Church is right—what Jesus requires is a clean 
heart and righteous living, no matter what your 
creed o* theology, for all of these are supplement- 
ary modes of physical temperament and varied, ac- 


BACK TO METHODISM 161 


cording to the light these mortals have conceived. 
But Christ tells us to preach the gospel and not 
try to prove it, it will prove itself as sunshine 
proves itself. All heaven exalts us to preach it, and 
the earth anguishes to hear it. Let us stop arguing 
whose creed is right and turn that force so wasted 
on Satan and sin. Everybody knows what you are, 
and God help you if you are not something. A 
man without a creed is like a ship without a helm. 
While we are discussing modes of baptism and 
liturgy, our sons and daughters are dying out of 
Christ. Preach the gospel as salvation from sin, 
from sorrow and death. One of the worst backsets 
the gospel has had in heathen lands came from the 
different denominations contending that their creed 
was the only true creed and the only religion recog- 
ized by the Lord. Just think of a man living in dark- 
ness, bowing down to wood and stone, finding him- 
self in the midst of several creeds and dogmas, 
such as we find surrounding us all, or each telling 
him this ts right and condemning the others and 
still trying to teach the poor heathen that our God 
is one God, with one faith. 

Listen, the trouble is not in that every man 
should not be persuaded by his own belief when it 
comes to church polity with the fundamental prin- 
ciples of Christianity, the essential thing is to 
know that you have been converted, tf you have 
been converted and know that you have passed 
from death unto life, join any church you please 


162 BACK TO METHODISM 


and be baptized in any mode you desire, water will 
not take you te heaven, you simply, through this 
sign, show the world what has been accomplished 
inside. Let your conscience be your judge and the 
deed is done. Preach the gospel to the rich and 
to the poor, let the learned and the unlearned catch 
its strain alike—tell them there is mercy, sing it, 
pray it, and then, wherever you find a man bound 
with sin, with one stroke of the gospel hammer 
he shall be free. 


THE. CROSS “SYMBOLIZES THE “WISDOM AND 
POWER OF GOD 


Again the apostle in this text suggests that the 
cross preaching should be done in a certain way— 
lest is should be made of non-effect. 

The cross symbolizes the wisdom and power of 
God and the atonement of Jesus Christ, and these 
may be made of non-effect by rhetorical wisdom 


of the world. The Corinthians thought themselves 
a literary people—they had been inclined to dis- 


count the teaching of Paul because he did not use 
fine rhetoric, like some of the Grecian orators. 
They were thinking more about how they said 
things, than what was said, for they desired to 
hear the words which sounded wise measured by 
profane standards; but Paul avoided any such dis- 
play he was afraid to present them a rhetorical 
bouquet, lest they would look at the faded flowers 
and not the everlasting cross. Words are not to 


BACK TO METHODISM 163 


cover the cross, but to exhibit it. Therefore, what 
the Corinthians needed was not a golden dipper to 
drink from, but the water of life, regardless of 
the vessel conveying it to their mouths. Who 
doubts that Paul under the guidance of the Holy 
Spirit could have written a whole treatise on rhe- 
toric and used such phrases therein that would have 
made the most fastidious Corinthian applaud, but 
he was showing the cross and it needed no dis- 
play. 

O, this cry for worldly wisdom. God, has chosen 
the weak to confound the strong—when the Jew- 
ish priest and the Sanhedrin court had failed to 
give ease to guilty conscience, our Saviour took 
twelve unlearned fishermen and trained them for 
three vears and then told them to tarry at Jerusa- 
lem until He sent them the Holy Spirit. And when 
the day of pentacost had come and they were in 
the upper chamber, God’s first power house on 
earth, they received the Holy Ghost and they des- 
cended and went into the bloody streets of Jerusa- 
lem, and three thousand happy souls were convert- 
ed and joined the church, which caused a fire of 
the gospel to kindle and burn from city to city, 
from country to country, joining in the cry of 
triumph, age followed ages of the awakening, 
marching to the mighty strain until its music re- 
sounded from pole to pole. 

O, Greece, where is thy wisdom? Speak, Socra- 
tes! Speak, Plato! Speak all you divinities of science 


\ 


164 BACK TO METHODISM 


and philosophy! Alas! the ministerial are no 
more! Thy laurels, O Athens, have long since crum- 
bled and mingled with the dust, and the voice of 
thy fame is a fainting echo of the long past! But 
in every land over every wave, the cross of Christ 
is preached and kings and their thrones are for- 
gotten in the lustre of the crucified One, for here 
the power of God is wrought and the wisdom of 
God is understood. 

We admit that science has done much for the 
race, but all it brought to light came through 
the knowledge of God handed down to man. Hip- 
pech found longitude and latitude trying to measure 
the distance of the stars apart. Galileo found the 
pendulum of the clock investigating the movement 
of the sun. The rocks tell that God exists, bat 
still all of these leave a veil between us and God. 
Only the Saviour and the preaching of the Word, 
bring us face to face with our Maker. Then the man 
is wise who will leave off all of these things he 
knows and go to the cross and study there the plan 
of human redemption. Be what you may, astrono- 
mer, geologist, or philsopher, but you must yield 
place to the Christian student who comes to the 
cross with a contrite heart to learn from Christ 
that worldly wisdom will not suffice in the valley 
of the shadow of death. If wisdom of the world 
could have saved man, Christ would have written 
a treatise on science, when He stood on Mt. Olive 
and wept for the daughters of His people—but 


BACK TO METHODISM 165 


science could not save souls, neither could chaste 
‘speech nor anything but the blood of Christ, told 
am the simplest language could do the work. The 
“qro@ss 1s God’s apology for love and His criticism 
e& sin. The cross is God’s great battle ground and 
Christ His mighty captain of salvation. Can man by 
searching, find out God to perfection? The ages 
cry out, no! But the cross reaches God in His 
perfection. 

, wonderful love on Calvary’s summit! See Him 
2 spectacle for heaven and earth—I hear the in- 
<puiry, was He wounded before? And eternity an- 
swered, no. Another inquiry, where did He re- 
ceive His wounds? Immensity replied, on earth, 
tor no other orb has known the dripping of His pre- 
cous blood. Still another voice, why was He woun- 
dled ? And the earth responded, He was wounded for 
man’s transgressions and by His stripes we are 
healed. 

The cross may be rendered ineffectual by com- 
glaint, that it is lower that God. They paint Christ 
as the highest type of humanity and devotion and 
amselfshness, but this is only a half truth, and a 
half truth is more deceiving than a whole lie. It 
deceives the worshipper and covers the cross in 
sts fullness and efficacy. Christ as He worked 
among men, was an example, but as He went to 
the cross, He was an atonement, for no man was 
able to bridge the great gulf between God and His 
creature man, none but Christ could do this work, 


166 BACK TO METHODISM 


None but Christ could satisfy justice; heaven, hell 
and the earth were searched, but only Jesus the 
eternal son of God could go to Calvary’s cross. 
Christ the only atonement for man able to change 
his sinful nature, therefore, man had to coime to 
God through Christ.” 

If blazing stars and burning suns could have done 
the work of salvation, God would have used them. 
If fallen angels could have accomplished the mighty 
task, they would have been assigned to it. If sim- 
less angels were more equal to the emergency, 
God would have delighted in trusting it in their 
hands and thereby save the apple of His eye, Jesus 
Christ. If God Himself, could have done the work 
there would have been no Calvary’s blood summit 
in God’s plan, none but Jesus could do the mighti- 
est work of works. 

What a criticism on sin when the only begotten 
Son of God was required to leave His throne of 
power and dominion to come to a sin cursed world 
to save rebellious man. ‘Therefore the smallest 
sin can damn the greatest man. 

Just think what a black world we are living in, 
despite the preaching and teaching of Enoch, Abra- 
ham, [saae and Moses. Of all the prophets and iudg- 
es of the Christ an 1 His apostles; ef al! the saints 
and martyrs, sin is still more prevalent than right- 
eousness. What would have been the scene of hu- 
man history if these good men had not lived. If sin 
so blackened the world despite all of this, the picture 


BACK TO METHODISM 167 


would have been indeed unfit to look upon, with- 
out these spots of light upon the pages of these 
dark records. By the cross God says sin is the 
worst enemy to both God and man. 


WHERE WILL YOU GO TO SHOW ME THE EVILS 
OF SIN AND THE GOODNESS OF GOD 


Where will you go to show me the evil of Sin? 
i will take you to a murderer‘s cell. I stop not 
there, but take you to a drunkard’s grave. I stop 
not there, but take you to the cross and point you 
to my Saviour. I remember that He is God and 
mman hanging on a tree, and I say how great must 
have been man’s sins that none but God’s son could 
atone for him. 

Where will you go to show me the goodness of 
God? Some will carry me to their well-fitted 
homes and show me their splendid gardens and 
cattles and grown up children and say here is love 
of God—but I stop not there. I go to Calvary’s 
eross and see my Saviour bleeding for my redemp- 
tion and I| say here is the greatest proof of God’s 
love. Did Jesus ask why God had forsaken Him, 
it was justice driving that last nail, which must be 
dene while Christ yet lived for death could not 
realize the meanings of these sublime words which 
meant so much to heaven and earth. It is finished 
~—do you wonder that the sun veiled his face from 
the sixth to the ninth hour, when He who made 
the sun and kept it turning in its orbit was being 


168 BACK TO METHODISM 


crucified-—no wonder he drew aside to mourn. The 
love Christ exhibited on the cross can never be 
told in human language. Therefore, the cross shal} 
be the theme in time and eternity. It has made 
labor sweet and the earth beautiful. Paul gloried 
in the cross, preached it, suffered for it and died: 
defending it. The blood stained cross stands in the 
centre of all human history. Yes, all history con- 
verges on it, and all progress comes from it benigm 
influence. It has changed cells of sin to places o% 
joy—it stands behind the earth’s greatest discover- 
ies and inventions. It has changed the love feast 
chamber at Jerusalem to a palace as wide as the 
world. irom the twelve have come millions. The 
world today is crowning the cross as the orb of 
light, all science and philosophy, all governmer 
and knowledge and progress are placing flowers at 


the base of the cross, still the great day of triumph 
of the cross on earth will come when denomina- 


tional strife will cease and the one opinion of the 
cross and the Lamb will sing “All hail the power of 
Jesus’ name.” 

Brethren, soon, very soon, every being in the umt- 
verse will confess that Christ’s blood was not sheet 
in vain. But what is your relation to the crass> 
Is the bleeding Saviour your personal friend? Is 
the sweet song of redemption your song? Will the 
hallelujah chorus be your blissful share? Bring all 
your controversies and doubts and place them at. 
the foot of the cross. 


BACK TO METHODISM 169 


CHAPTER XVII 
MUSING 
JUST THINKING 


Do you know it is a good thing to think, and that 
the best way to cause you to think is to read other 
peoples’ thoughts? No one should read to be a 
glagiarist, but he reads that the thought he sees 
might flash through his mind, and like throwing 
water into the mouth of a pump which is sucked, 
amd pumping it brings up the deeper water at the 
bottom of the well. 

Every good thought which comes into one’s mind 
amd is nurtured and wrought out with the hands 
Becomes an artificial personage and joins in the 
world’s activities of things to make tangible ma- 
terials and history and comfort the race. 

Say what you will, a thought is a thing, initiated 
mm the realms of the senses of a moral being but 
writl die there if not allowed to be born and develop- 
ed into usefulness. Thought conceived, the gigan- 
tm: suspension bridges which span our great rivers 
and cut the Panama Canal connecting the Atlantic 
amd Pacific Oceans, saving ships thousands of miles 
tavel around Cape Horn. Thought dug the tunnels 
mader the great towering mountains and harnessed 


170 BACK TO METHODISM 


the powers of the tremendous cataracts of the thun- 
dering falls to light cities and to bear burdens 
miles away. Thought lifted man from the caves 
he once crawled into, to the mansions into which he 
now dwells. Brawn is good to have, but it is noth- 
ing left alone but misdirected force. The diggers 
of the gold and silver, of the coal and iron, the 
separation of the precious metal from the dross 
are all directed by thought. 

Tgnorance spells so much inconvenience and poy- 
erty, while enlightenment with the right use of such 
powers, means at least, you have it in your hands 
to keep the wolf from the door. What J mean is 
this, ignorance and poverty can never cope with 
intelligence and means. If one thinks his thoughts 
will be about his children while he is able to make 


a few dollars and will lay aside some of his earn- 
ings for them that they may not be hampered in 


their training to become useful men and women. 
When one does not think, he lives only in the now 


-—he has no past experience to spur him to future 
endeavors, nor does his mind cast any shadows 


before him te help prepare him for his inactive 
hours. 
RELIGION 


Then religions and the worn out codes of ethics 
and mythologies came to me. I thought of Brah- 
manism, the worshippers of the gods of nature, of 


Ra the sun god, of Zoroaster the fire god, of 
Confucius and Buddha and Lao-Tsze who blended 


BACK TO METHODISM 171 


astrology and philosophy into the latest Confucious- 
ism. One of these codes runs thus: “Learning un- 


digested by thought is labor lost ; thought unassist- 
ed by learning is perilous.” I thought of Jugger- 
naut, the celebrated god of the world of Shintoism. 
the religion of patriotism to the Mikado implicit 
obedience to him whom the Japanese claimed drop- 
ped from the heaven. Of Fetishism, the lowest 
form of idolatry. Fetishism and witchcraft go hand 
in hand: the Fetishes are supposed to keep away the 
witches, hence the dime around the ankle, the 
little black bag with several articles around the 
neck, the lucky stone or rabbit foot in the pocket 
are the relics of Fetishism. All of these strange 
ereeds and idol gods passed before my view; as I 
thought I examined them and not even Judaism, 
with its monotheistic god measures up to the re- 
ligion of the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives the 
highest expression of the soul, and lifts and cleans 
the body. To read His works and deeds and see the 
spirit He has left behind Him in good men and the 
Bible, It is thought so simple yet so _ profound, 
which produces such chaste diction in the language 
of the times, yet altogether classical and logical 
today. It is beautiful because it directs thought 
towards the highest Being. The nearer one gets 
to the infinite Almighty, the higher he thinks of the 
immortal, the sublime. 


172 BACK TO METHODISM 


MUSIC 


Music is the science of harmonious sounds which 
may be produced by the human voice or bells or 
pipes or strings. The Stabat Mater and the Cre- 
ation and the celebrated oratorios were the divime 
intuition that illuminated the thoughts and rang 
in the ears of such great masters as Jocabine da. 


Todi, Bach, Haden, Handel, Mozart, Beethoven and 
Mendelsohn and directed their finders as they were 


inspired to place the interpretations of their souls 
with dots upon lines and spaces which notated 
rythmic melody and dynamonics or height, depth 
and power of sounds. I was just thinking about 
the music of the bells, how their chimes have denot- 
ed both joy and sorrow. St. Peter at Rome joined 
in the festivities of the vatican and call the Cath- 
olic world to reverence and devotion. Notre Daimne 
at Paris, where Gracia placed the bells in 1162 has 
rung many changes of the French nation. It was 
here Napoleon was crowned and baptized and 
crowned his son, King of Rome, while the bells 


chimed. In busy London, West Minister Abbey 
chimes every fifteen minutes to call the unthinking 


attention to the great dome pointing men to God 
amidst the mad commercial rush. Old St. Michael’s. 
Church bells at Charleston, S. C., called President 
George Washington to worship over a _ hundred 
years ago. It still chimes, “Ding, Dong bells,” like 
Liberty Bell which was cracked telling the natiow 
that the Declaration of Independence was signed 


BACK TO METHODISM 173 


and the colonies had cut the rope between them and 
England, the mother country. I also thought about 
the bells which were worn on the skirts of the Jew- 
ish priests, how solemn they must have sounded as 
they officiated around the altars. I was thinking 
how serere the blast of the trumpets must have 
sounded in the ancient days when they called men 
to be crowned kings and priests and to rush into 
battle and inspired them to victory or defeat and 
death. Even in these times the bugle has a solemn 
sound as it blows taps to the last resting place of 
the soldier. Was there a clarinet player in your 
neighborhood as there was in mine, who sent out 
early Christmas morning the sweet nctes from his 
instrument, ‘rloly Night?” which sounded heaven- 
ly and serene? 

David’s sweet harp which charmed kings and 
princes was reechoed in old Bull celebrated vio- 
lin. The pipe organ is supposed to blend all the 
means of making music in one, to hear the great 
organ at Oberlin College, or at Wanamaker’s store 
in Philadelphia, would cause you to believe the ef- 
fort was not too far fetched. After all, music is the 
production of thought; blend all of the means of 
making music together, and hear a great hallelu- 
jah chorus accompanied by horns and bells and 
strings and the thought of God will burn the soul. 

Then I thought of the old time Methodists, and 
in my mind’s eye, pictured John and Charles Wes- 
ley, Francis Asbury, Richard Allen, Paul Quinn, 


174 BACK TO METHODISM 


Daniel A. Payne and H. M. Turner, as they went 
from place to place singing the sweet old Method- 
ist songs, ard preaching the doctrine of saving 
grace, my soul is illuminated. 

I wonder why today that we do not glory so 
much in Methodist hymns. Let us go back to 
Methodism. We havé a ritual, we should use it. 
Every Methodist pulpit the world over, should have 
the Methodist services. After all we may say and 
do about it, we will not be able to make much im- 
provement in any way on the order of services in 
the worship of Methodism. The old time class 
meeting and love feast songs that fired the heart 
of our fathers and mother will still fire ours. Let 
the welkin ring; let the people sing; lead them not 
away from the landmarks astray. 

Back to Methodism—sing her songs—send up 
her extemporaneous prayers. I have just been 
thinking of the sweet inspirations that have flown 
into my heart from Methodist simplicity and se- 
renity. 


BACK TO METHODISM TAS 


CHAPTER XVIII 
PROOF OF THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST 
THE GREATEST EVENT IN HISTORY 


“The Lord is risen indeed.” Luke 24:34. 

We gather every Easter morning to celebrate 
the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is 
the greatest event the world has ever known. It 
was heralded by angels; foretold by prophets; poets 
sang its praises; the Jewish priests spoke of it in 
symbolical language for two thousand years; and 
heaven was waiting when it came to pass, to join 
in the hallelujah chorus. At the crucifixion three 
malefactors were put to death; but the one hung 
in the middle of them was the most mysterious per- 
sonage ever clothed in mortal flesh. Crucifixion 
was the common mode of inflicting death upon 
those who committed civil or religious crimes wor- 
thy of death and Jesus was charged with blasphemy. 
Generally, such criminals were put to death and 
shortly forgotten, but not so with Jesus. He had 
been of too much use to all classes of people; had 
all thought He would break the Roman yoke and 
done so many marvelous deeds and complied so 
closely with the description of the Messiah, that 
set Israel free. But despite all His philosophical 


176 BACK TO METHODISM 


speeches and the many precepts He gave by ex- 
amples, He refused to be made King, while He sub- 
mitted to insults, was arrested, abused and scourg- 
ed, convicted of the most despicable crime and died 
the meanest death—these facts made Jesus a stumb 
ling block to the Jews, and foolishness to the 
Greeks. No wonder of such, for truly Jesus was a 
mysterious Being. 


TRULY HE DID LIVE 


For thirty-two years He had been going through 
the length and breadth of Palestine, doing one sur- 
prising thing after another. He was the centre of 
all human thoughts from the manger to the cross. 
The last week He was on earth, He left us enough 
to save us, if all of the other part of His life was 
left unrecorded. In this week He prophesied the 
destruction of Jerusalem; administered the last 
supper to His disciples; told of His betrayal, death 
and resurrection. He rode triumphantly into Je- 
rusalem, entered the temple and scourged and dis- 
charged the money exchangers; rebuked the sloth- 
ful fig tree; silenced the Pharisees and Scribes for 
all times. Then came His arrest and sentence and 
crucifixion; and with this, the probability of His 
resurrection which was the theme of the discourse 
between the two disciples, who were going from 
Jerusalem to Emmaus when Jesus approached them 
and inquired why they held such a sad conversation 


\ 


\ 


BACK TO METHODISM 177 


_ one with the other, they told Him they were talk- 
\ing of Jesus, a prophet indeed, and mighty in the 


works whom the rulers recently put to death, and 
were surprised at His ignorance of not being in- 
formed upon so important a matter. However, 
they said, this is the third day since He has been 
dead, and some of our company went to His tomb 
early this morning, and have reported to others of 
us that they saw a vision of angels, and that the 
Lord is risen, indeed! Here Jesus turned, the table 
upon them, and showed that they, instead of Him- 
self, were ignorant, for the Scriptures from Gene- 


sis to Malachi say that He must suffer and be cruci- 
fied, but on the third day He would rise again from 


the dead. By this time they had reached their home 
and invited this affable stranger to spend the night 
with them. Now when supper was ready and they 
had sat down to eat, Jesus took bread and when 
He gave thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, 
and immediately their eyes came open, and they 
saw Jesus, who, as quickly, disappeared. So good 
was the sight to them, ard delightful the com- 
munion they had with him, they straightway re- 
turned to the city to tell the other disciples that 
they hed seen Jesus. But on entering the house 
where they were, before they could tell their pleas-- 
ant experience, the whole assembly burst forth in 
one acclaim, shouting, “The Lord is risen, indeed.” 

Here evidence meets evidence, but since this is 
all internal evidence, let us consider some external 


178 BACK TO METHODISM 


evidence. All, both friends and foes, admitted that 
Jesus was a natural person, for many were alive 


who knew Him from His youth up. He ate and 
drank, laughed and wept with them; He handled 
others and they handled Him. He had all the sus- 
ceptibilities common to mankind, and was subject 
to all the laws of nature—hence, His public trial, 
conviction and execution. 


WAS HE REALLY DEAD? 


Yes, He was put to death on Friday, receiving 
five bloody wounds, after which He was taken 
from the cross and tightly bound in linen cloth from 
head to foot, and was placed in a stone tomb, where 
His body laid for three days. If there was a spark 
of life in Him when taken from the cross, it would 
have gone out because of the suffocating condition 
natural to an airtight compartment. Of course He 
was dead before He was taken from the cross—the 
earth acknowledged it and quaked—heaven saw it— 
and the sun hid his face, and darkness enveloped 
the earth at noonday. 


WAS HE ARISEN e 


The angels say, yes; the prophets say, yes; the 
Roman soldiers said, “Truly this is the Son of God.” 


Then the resurrection is probable, it is possible, and 
is actually in the Bible. Jesus spoke of it before 
He died, and proved it by raising Lazarus and the 


BACK TO METHODISM 179 


widow’s son from the dead.. The Pharisees be- 
lieved it possible and went to Pilate, and requested 
him to piace a guard at the sepulchre to defeat this 
last, but most imnertant aim of !fesus, to establish 
His religion in the hearts of men. Every precau- 
tion was taken. The tomb was sealed with the 
Roman eagle, and sixty-five well armed and dis- 
ciplined soldiers were placed on duty day and night 
to keep watch. Then that unreasonable tale which 
the Jews told that the disciples came by night and 
stole the body while the soldiers slept, is absurd. 
Think of a few unlearned, dreadfully frightened, 
powerless and greatly despised Gallilean fishermen, 


who were momently waiting with abated breath and 
palpitating hearts to be arrested and share Jesus’ 


fate, going to a tomb just outside of the city at that 
time of the year when crowds came from every- 


where to celebrate the passover (insomuch, until 
the inns were unable to accommodate them) so 
that the suburhs of the city were white with tents 


of campers, while the moon shone as brightly as 
day, as sixty-five valiant Roman soldiers were sen- 
tinels; or was it possible for sixty-five persons to 
sleep at once while a crowd of men walked over 
them and rolled away a huge stone from the mouth 
of the sepulchre, and take away the body without 
the noise awakening any one of the number? Or, 


why were not the soldiers tried for neglect of duty? 
Since it was as serious a crime to sleep on guard 


as to commit a high treason, which meant sudden 
death to a Roman soldier. Matthew was right 


180 BACK TO METHODISM 


when he said the soldiers were protected by Jew- 
ish bribes and given money to spread the infamous 
lie that the disciples came by night and stole the 
body of Jesus, and said He rose from the dead, 
which never occurred. Truly, the soldiers slept but 
it was not natural sleep, it was the sleep of fear 
which fell upon them.from heaven. 

When God swung wide the portals, and sent a 
great convoy of celestial messengers down to earth 
to escort His victorious Son back to His shining 
courts above, the noise was too terrible for their 
ears, the light of their countenance too bright for 
their eyes, these heavenly armed soldiers struck 
them with awe: they fell as dead men while the 
mightiest work of works was being done. 

Space will not allow us to give further proofs of 
the resurrection in this short discourse, but those 
cited are sufficient to show that Jesus indeed lived, 
suffered, died and arose again from the dead. 

But upon this single fact rests the hope of im- 
morality. But the Lord is risen indeed; and our 
doubts and fears are dispelled, and joy and gladness 
take their places. The Lord is risen indeed! And 
with the resurrection comes the newness of life 
to the whole universe. Nature welcomes it and 
puts forth her best efforts to gladden the occasion. 


The air is clear, the sky is bright, the sun sends 
forth his golden rays by day to awaken all things 


from their benumbed hibernation; the moon and 
her countless number of starry companions shed 


BACK TO METHODISM 181 


their silvery lights from a beautiful back ground of 
blue dome, which fell majestically upon the earth, 
as they shouted for joy over the victory of the 
Lord. The earth is beautifully carpeted with green 
grass, the trees are putting out their leaves and 
blossoms, the shrubs and vines are seen on every 


side; while flowers in abundance fill the air with 
sweet fragrance. Amidst this scene of magnifi- 


cence and grandeur, the hum of the honey bees is 
heard, end the songs of mocking birds and larks 
float on the zephyr. The beasts of the field, and the 


creeping things of the ground and reptiles of the 
earth, join in the glad awakening and come out 


from their dens, caves and lairs to warm in the 
Easter sun, and to feed upon the pastures of the 
Eastertide. Man sees all of this and greets the 
season with the hope of abundant harvest when his 
summer toils are over and his barns are filled and 
his soul satisfied. 


RESULTS OF EASTER TO THE CHRISTIAN 


To the Christian, Easter reminds him of the hope 
of the soul when it shall triumph over death. The 
resurrection is our greatest hope and expectation; 
no other success or achievement is so real and last- 
ing. Heroes, patriots, statesmen, poets, orators, 
philosophers, philanthropists and saints have pass- 
ed away; the scenes of their wars and hardships— 
their sacrifices and spiritual conflicts, their councils 
and eloquence, they leave behind them. It may be 


182 BACK TO METHODISM 


a long and lasting memory and an imperishable re- 
nown, but they, themselves, are taken away from 
all conscious and direct living intercourse, even 
with their dearest friends and most devoted adher- 
ents. Imaginaton and memory may linger upon 
their words; their praises may be rehearsed in eulo- 
gies and songs; their likeness may be recalled in 
sculptures by painting, avd in poetry; their deeds 
may be transmitted from father to son in long and 
grateful traditions, but their loving personal pres- 
ence is neither felt nor seen. Jesus in contrast with 
them is not only a historical personage as these 
mighty sages were, but we believe in Him and feel 
His living presence in our hearts. We meet Him 
each day as a trusted personal friend, and look to 
Him for succor, wisdom and strength. His pres- 
ence at the right hand of His Majesty on high 
greets the eye of faith as it looks upward. In hours 
of contest, in anguish and death, we see the loving 
eve, and lean upon that mighty living arm. We 
hear that sweet voice making constant intercession 
to the Father for us. He is willing and able to 
save all that come to Him, because he has power 
in heaven and on earth, “Because He lives, we shall 
live, also.” 

Hallelujah, praise ye the Lord—wipe away your 
tears, cease from sorrow, lift up your voice, shout 
for joy in your hearts; for the Lord is risen indeed 
and Justice asks no more. 

“O, grave where is thy Me a i death, where 
is thy Bane" Pa 


i 


BACK TO METHODISM 183 


CHAPTER XIX 
BULWARKS 
THE GREAT CELEBRATION 


“Walk about Zion and go round about her tell the 
towers thereof. Mark ye well her bulwarks, con- 
sider her palaces, that ye may tell it to generations 


following.” Psaim 18:12-13. 
Our text is taken from this psalm which was 


sung by the sons of Korah to express joy and rever- 
ence to God upon festal occasions. It seems that 
the occasicn which brought forth this burst of jubi- 
lant and steadfast faith in Jehovah was when the 
kings of the heathen nations around them contrived 
to destroy Zion and failed, the Lord struck them 
with fear, and the ornaments and privileges of the 
church were exhibited in their eyes. 

In song, Zion is extolled and the people avowed 
Jehovah to be their God forever. Thus, the im- 
pression conveycd to cur minds through such 


acts is that it is impossible to destroy the Church of 
God. But for fear there may be some who do not 


understand the supernatural power wrapped up in 
Holy Zion, an invitation is extended to all, regard- 
ess to creed or no creed, to examine the founda- 
tion and the shafts of the pillars upon which the 


184. BACK TO METHODISM 


Church of God is reared. We come, then, to stand 
at the gates of the great superstructure of Zion, 
resting on her beautiful hills which conceal the 
destiny of man’s salvation. God has placed the 
keys of it in our hands that we might go in and 
examine it and see for. ourselves the ground upon 
which the temple of truth and faith is erected, and 
the materials which hold together its everlasting 
structure. 


Every great celebration brings together large 
crowds of people for one purpose and another. Some 
come that they might pay homage to the occasion; 
others come to criticise and pick flaws. However, 
at this celebration none are rejected; all are invited 
and every one is entreated to unlock the outer and 
inner gates of the courts and walk in and go round 
about her, and tell the towers thereof, and mark well 
her bulwarks that they might tell it to generations 
following. 

Methodism, our branch of Zion, has been in the 
midst of the world for 185 years. Varied and 
tedious has been the journey over which she has 
travelled. Many bishops have presided over her, 
many presiding elders and pastors have come and 
gone; while the old members who founded it have 
long since crossed the Jordan. But she still stands 
in the world dispensing good will and charity from 
the heart of the Saviour. Many enemies have 
done all they could to impede her progress, but 
she stands here today in her spirit, with more in- 


BACK TO METHODISM 185 


fluence and power than ever before. Some who 
have wasted their lives trying to hinder God’s 
cause are still on the outside of His grace and 
favor and wrapped up in mystery and reasoning 
why the plans they thought so sure would have 
carried, fail, and the Church continues to go on, 
gaining converts, reclaiming backsliders, marrying 
and baptizing, and burying the dead. Zion has no 
enemies, rather she pities them who hate her and 
extends to every class an invitation to enter her 
courts and survey her wall and compass her 
ground, that they might see why she succeeds 
while they fail. 


AN INVITATION TO EXAMINE THE SHAFTS OF 
Pee PiL VARS 


Come in, all of you, the infidels, the sceptics, the 
agnostics, the polytheists, deists, and heritics. Let 
the worldly wise man with his philosophies and 
isms, codes of morals and fastidious new thoughts 
and phantoms come in, who is trying to gain 
worldly applause which will fade away with them. 
while their bodies molter in the clay. But before 
you enter, promise to leave all biasness on the 
outside and rid your minds of prejudice and envy, 
and promise to give credit where it is due. 

The infidel says there is no God, that this vast 
creation came by chance. “Ex nihil nihil fit’ —From 
nothing nothing is made. No dead thing can beget 


186 BACK TO METHODISM 


a live one, there must have been some first live 
cause to spread life in the universe. Man himself 
is too marvelously made to be a machine put to- 
gether by chance. A thing made by chance could 
be first one thing and then another, our hands, 
by chance, would be where our feet are 
and our eyes where our ears are sometimes. By 
chance with no providential guidance, sometime 
the sun would rule the night and the moon the 
day, there would be no seed time, no harvest, no 
even season, no time for the birds of the air to 
hatch their brood, or the beasts of the field to 
bring forth their young. A chance universe would 
not mean any special species of living things, but 
by chance, a conglomeration of everything, man 
or beast, or bird or whar not, as the thing might 
chance to happen. 

Tom Payne and Rouseau and Hume, stood on 
the outside of the temple and howled against the 
Bible like the dog barked at the moon until it was 
too late, then Payne spoke for them all when he 
said, “I am making a tremendous leap in the dark. 
Y am lost.” A man who calls himself an infidel, 
does not believe himself because he has some sense 
of deeper inner self, a germ, seed of religion 
wrought in the realm of the senses with prospec- 
tive and retrospective thoughts which ring in his 
heart sorrow for his sins and wonder for the fu- 
ture well being. 

The sceptics say they do not know whether there 


BACK TO METHODISM 18/7 


is a God or not. Come into the gates of Zion and 
compare the things wrought in her courts, with 
those on the outside. They: say they don’t know 
and the reason is because they have tried to mix 
true an undefiled religion with all kinds of mytholo- 
gies and heathen philosophies. The cloud gathered 
from this mixture will leave any one in doubt. 
Why not drop these mystic enigmas and strip your- 
self of worldly knowledge, and reason from the 
source of your own being, tracing the moral and re- 
ligious nature within you so that you can lft your- 
self from the flesh unto che spiritual elevation 
where the deep Godlike symptoms dwell and doubt 
would fade away from you like chaff before the 
wind. 

The polytheists say there are many gods. They 
get their false belief from the many ideas they 
have allowed their hearts to conceive regarding the 
true and living God. Come into the courts of Zion 
and go round about her that you might see how 
strong and well protected is the city. All of the 
gods of mythology carved from gold and silver, or 
adopted from nature have died with the nations 
and peoples who brought them out of their becloud- 
ed and wicked imaginations. But Zion and her 
God wax stronger as the age rolls on into the ages. 
Let the heretics also come in, this is examination 
day. 


188 BACK TO METHODISM 


FAITH AND THE BIBLE STRONG PILLARS IN ZION 


Since the coming of the Church artful schemers 
have been trying to wreck her from within by ac- 
cepting a half truth. Mohammed tried to swallow 
up Jesus as one of His: prophets when he said there 
is but one God and Mohammed is his prophet. All 
other prophets, including Jesus, were subordinate 
to him. Arius fought very hard at Nicea, 325 
A. D.)\to (iteke trom) i Jesus!) His 4) divines) aes 
ture, but Athanasius stood like a_ stone 
wall defending both the divinity and hu- 
manity of Jesus, and the council upheld him. Many 
strong men in and out of the Church have tried to 
destroy her, but none have prevailed. Persecution 
began with the murder of Abel and down through 
the generations amidst scourging and pillage and 
death it has come thick and fast, but all have only 
made converts and broadened the stakes and 
stretched the cords of Zion. He watches over her 
every act. Some have even assayed to say the 
Church is losing her power. This may be 
true of some Church congregations or even 
denominations where the people congregate 
without God. But God’s Chutctt;4si) tae 
fleshy part of His people’s hearts, who have 
been truly converted and will never perish from the 
earth, because when form and fashion superceed 
spirituality and benevolence, He destroys that 


BACK TO METHODISM 189 


congregation or denomination and rears up another 
like Ezekiel’s dry bones, to serve Him. 


Faith is one of the strongest pillars in Zion. By 
it we see our Saviour dying on Calvary, also hear 
Him saying on Mt.Olive after He arose from the 
dead, “All power is trusted in my hands, in heaven 
and in earth. Go ye into the world and preach the 
gospel to every creature.” Mark 16:15. 


The Bible is another pillar in the temple of Zion. 
Let us contrast this pillar with men’s ideas. Men 
are polytheistic; the Bible is monotheistic; men are 
idolatrous; the Bible is intensely anti-idolatrous; 
men are earthly and the Bible is celestial; men are 
self-complacent; the Bible is condemnatory; men 
are inquisitive and communicative; the Bible is 
wonderfully reticent. The Bible is from God, be 
cause of the truth it teaches concerning man’s 
destiny; because of the redemption it offers; be- 
cause it certifies in itself the highest expression 
of the soul and it is worthy of God because Christ 
is dominant and central all through it. When God 
created the world it had all the elements it has 
today. But as to what they were and the right 
use of them man was ignorant, so that it took 
man many generations to find and bring to light the 
things which were always with him, and no doubt, 
the field over which he has yet to go is larger by 
far than that he has already travelled. Gravitation 
has always been with us, but it took Newton to 
give us the facts and the laws about it. The earth 


190 BACK TO METHODISM 


has always moved, but it took Galileo to tell us so. 
We know now that the atmosphere is a mixture 
of nitrogen and oxygen gases in fixed proportions, 
and that the air is suitable for life and congenial 
for health. We know now that the whole earth, 
all the rocks, minerals and substances of all kinds 
are combustible, still some spurn the idea of the 
world being destroyed by fire, chemical truth has 
not only dispelled hygenic ignorance, but has 
brought thousands of useful articles to man which 
are good for his health and pleasure. 


SEALED BOOK OPENED 


Now, the analogy which we wish to draw is that 
just as the physical universe was closed up in a 
sealed book, and had to be opened by the diligent 
study of scientific truths, by men of all ages, so 
also is the Bible full of spiritual truths, which can 
only be revealed to those who study it. The pro- 
fane world can boast of great philosophers like 
Socrates and Plato, but only a few have been able 
to understand their teaching. But in Zion are Mo- 
ses and Elijah who were types of Christ who receiv- 
ed their charges from the mouth of God, and fed 
millions of poor fainting and hungry souls on spiri- 
tual manna. Confucius and Buddha left splendid 
codes of ethics, but Jesus, and Paul’s logic reasoned 
with God for the souls of men beyond the grave. 
Mohammed’s sword dripped with blood, Peter’s 
sword was the weapon of prayer used on Pente- 


BACK TO METHODISM 191 


costal Day, when three thousand souls were pierced 
to the heart, believed the gospel and were saved. 

The flames of persecution burned all over Europe 
and the Spanish Inquisition and the reign of bloody 
Mary brought back the days of Rome, when they 
slayed the saints in every cruel manner conceivable. 

We gather at our altar to praise God for Zion, 
that most precious gift given to man through His 
Son, Jesus. Let us bring our hearts and lay them 
at His feet. 

We close with the full satisfaction that we have 
walked about Zion, we have gone round her and 
have told the towers thereof, and have marked 
well her bulwarks and considered her palaces, and 
we found her doctrine sound, her faith firm, her 
hope anchored in Jesus Christ, the chief corner- 
stone of the temple of God’s eternal Kingdom. 

My dears, our fathers have stood and spoke for 
God, let us take up where they left off and keep 
the fire burning on the altar until God sounds out 
time and and sounds in eternity. 


192 BACK TO METHODISM 


CHAPTER XX. 


BACK TO METHODISM AND PREACH THE 
, WORD 


JESUS THE GREATEST PREACHER 


Jesus was the greatest preacher who ever came 
to the earth, that was the reason why the greatest 
crowd of people ever gathered, flocked to hear Him. 
He lived so near to God and men that He could 
touch men’s very souls, regardless into what sphere 
of life they lived. He went about three years 
preaching of the coming of the kingdom of God. 
He used His environment to press home the truths 
He wished to convey. When He spoke to His dis- 
ciples calling them from the world to His side to 
carry the Word, the majority of them being fisher- 
men, He said, “Follow me and I will make you fish- 
ers of men.” Mark 1:17. When He spoke to the 
farmers, He said, “Hearken; Behold, there went 
out a sower to sow.” Mark 4:3. When speaking 
to lawyers who desired to confound Him. He said, 
“Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things that are 
Caesar’s, and unto God the things that the God’s 
Matt. 22:21. He did not discuss subjects too far 
reaching for His hearers, nor did He fail to measure 
up to the requirements of the most fastidious or 


BACK TO METHODISM 193 


learned, He became all things to all men. He set 
the plans to put the world in perfect order because 
He spoke from the heart the things of God, condu- 
cive to man’s salvation. He was uncontaminated, 
nor was He subsidized by the allurements of the 
world. He came from heaven to speak the things 
of heaven and to lift up as many as would hear the 
Word and obey it. 


WHAT 1S THE WORD 


Jonn says “In the beginning was the Word, and 
the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” 
Before the material things of the universe were 
created, visible and invisible, whether animate 
or inanimate, the Word existed in God from all 
eternity. The Word is God to the manifestation 
and expression of Himself to those outside of Him- 
self. He is His own infinite absolute spiritual 
personage, the ground and cause of all that exists. 
God, then is omniscient, omnipresent, and omnipo- 
tent. One in essence, Three in divine personage, 
the Ifather, the Word and the Holy Spirit. Jesus 
said no man has ascended up to heaven, but he that 
came down from heaven, even the Son of man, who 
upon His departure sent us the Comforter, the Holy 
Spirit. And what if ye shall see the Son of man 
ascend up where He was before. Christ or the 
Word was not merely super-angelic, but He was 
the first of all beings excepting the Father, with 
whom He is equal, for His name shall be called 


194 BACK TO METHODISM 


the mighty God. J] am ‘alpha’ and ‘omega,’ J am 
the first and the last, besides me there is no God. 

Preach the Word—tell the wisdom, power, and 
love of God to men everywhere. Tell how Jesus 
laid aside His princely honors in glory and came 
to the world, suffered and died and won the victory 
over death, hell and the grave. Ye are commission- 
ed to tell this true story. St. Augustine said, “What 
else is the imposition of the hands, but a prayer 
over a man?” But hands do not do the work. It must 
be done in the heart by the power of God. 

Our discipline provides that our candidate for 
ordination must first be elected by the annual con- 
ference, and the bishop alone shall lay his hand on 
the deacons, but the elders shall be set apart by 
the bishop and the elders, comprising the commit- 
tee of the fourth year class. This is the highest 
and last ordination in our ministry. Bishops are not 
ordained bishops, but elected to the office and they 
are consecrated to its service by the general con- 
ference. But even after consecration or ordina- 
tion and setting men apart for the duties of the sup- 
erintendency of the Church; if a man is a bad man 
he will be a bad man still after his election, hand 
cannot purify him, only God’s grace and the Holy 
Spirit can do the work. But if the Holy Spirit has 
been planted in his heart before he came to be 
ordained by the bishop, or consecrated by the gen- 
eral conference by the laying on of hands upon 
their heads it will sink deeper the work of the min- 


BACK TO METHODISM 195 


istry in their hearts and make them regardless to 
office, thirst after God’s Word and cause them to 
use public and private prayer for the redemption 
of mankind and to help the sick and poor and to 
spread the gospel to the ends of the earth. 


MO PREACH ;EBRPECTIVELY, (BE VSURE: YOUGAKE 
CONVERTED 


Brethren, we are not called into any easy place 
when we are called to follow Jesus and preach the 
Word. It means that we have entered the army 
like when one enlists in the army of his country-- 
the only difference is the ea:thly scldier eulists in 
the army of his country for a number of years, 
while the minister of the gospel has entered Jesus’ 
army to fight until he is called from labor to re- 
ward. A call to the ministry of the gospel is not 
one of an ordinary calling, but rather, he is an 
ambassador of the Lord commissioned from above 
to help save the world for Christ. His work is 
distinctively different from every vocation. All 
other worldly vocations get their elections or ap- 
pointments from earthly powers and is limited to 
the fleeting perishable contingencies of human life. 
The Magna Charter curbs the power of the king; 
the Constitution of the United States limits that 
of the president; charters of banks and corporations 
tell the duties devolved on their officiais and any 
acts they perform beyond such is called ultra virus 
or exceeding their legal bounds which may run from 


196 BACK TO METHODISM 


imal-administration to treason, punishable some- 
times with impeachment or imprisonment and even 
death. But the man who is sent to preach the 
Word is commissioned from a higher and more 
powerful government than those of the United 
States or England. ~He is called and sent from 
above. 

liave you pondered over the seriousness of the 
step you have taken in the deepest recesses of 
your heart, and do you feel that your acts are in- 
spired from above? Have you been truly convert- 
ed, I mean born anew, regenerated, passed from 
death unto life with the witness in your breast, 
which causes you to feel the warmth of the Holy 
Ghost in your heart, telling you that there is no 
mistake about your calling, and that you are a 
true born child of God washed in Jesus’ blood? 
You cannot make it in the Methodist ministry ex- 
cept you know the Lord in the pardoning of your 
sins. We lay stress on conversion because it is 
the foundation of the temple upon which the min- 
isters’ career rests. The minister needs abundant 
patience; no unconverted person will long endure 
the persecution, inconvenience and slander he some- 
times will have to undergo. If he is not converted 
he will resort to earthly weapons to avenge him- 
self when he imagines a wrong has been done him. 
The minister will sometimes be foot sore, hungry 
and friendless, then, the unconverted will put down 
the Lord’s work and seek other means to supply 


BACK TO METHODISM 197 


his earthly needs and avenge himself. The con- 
verted minister has a soul longing desire for con- 
verts, but no man can kindle the fire of the Spirit 
in the breast of another man except he himself has 
been touched with Spiritual fire. When you see a 
man going for years in the ministry and no one 
converted through his preaching there is something 
wrong with him. Don’t understand me when I 
speak of the Spirit, that I only mean outward 
demonstration of the emotions only so that when 
the temporary blaze which provoked the excite- 
ment and sometimes contortion subsides, there is 
nothing remaining of real value, rather, I am speak- 
ing of the illumination of the soul by the Holy Spirit 
that quickens the sensibilities and gives an impulse 
to the will to fight greater battles and achieve 
grander deeds in the service of the Lord. I mean 
the Holy Spirit that comes into the heart and makes 
you love everybody, strips you of selfish interest 
and gives a clean conscience that makes you tell 
the truth, makes you fair and sympathetic, that 
makes you pay your just debts and causes you to 
Ilve as becoming a real ambassador for Christ in 
your community. “By their fruits shall ye know 
them.” 


THE CALL 
Ye are called to carry His name to the Gentiles 


and kings and children of Israel. How then will 
you know whether you are chosen or not without 


198 BACK TO METHODISM 


some fruits of your labors? Do men like to hear 
you expound the Word? Do any accept Christ by 
vour life and preaching? Does your church grow? 
Do you tind yourself submissive to those who have 
the Godly rule over you? Are you willing to be 
sent wherever the Church directs you go, or, are 
vour worldly interests so great in one place that 
vou are willing to quit preaching before you would 
leave that city, county or state? Methodism cov- 
ers the world, and every Methodist preacher is 
pastor of that parish. 


Let me entreat you, young men, who have re- 
cently entered the ministry—Don’t be carried away 
with all these new fads and phantoms in the air, 
forgetting the good old way which took our fathers. 
and mothers home to glory—men coming up deny- 
ing the virgin birth and the resurrection and the 
Bible story of the creation using the subtility of 
Satan, trying to blind the eyes of the Church peo- 
ple with that vain and empty cry of higher criti- 
cism and then saying that they desire to have no 
longer the rule or government of the church over 
them and still call themselves Methodists. As they 
took their ordination and consecration vows, they 
said before God and man that they would be cheer- 
fully governed by those who have authority over 
them. Remember, that Methodism is an Episco- 
pal form of government to which all who enter its 
courts must subscribe. The class leader is responsi 
ble for his class, the pastor for his church, the pre- 


BACK TO METHODISM 199 


siding elder for his district, the bishop for his 
diocese and the quarterly, annual and general con- 
ferences for all, respectively. All cannot be bish- 
ops, general officers, presiding elders, or metropoli- 
tan pastors, there must be some privates in every 
army. Don’t try to destroy the system of the 
church, you may be a head in it some day. If there 
is a rotten bough on the tree, saw it off, but don’t 
destroy the whole tree to get after the defective 
limb, prune the tree but let it live. 


MINISTER MUST KEEP WELL 


Next, a minister must keep well, no sick man is 
fit for the active pastorage any more than he is 
fit for active military service. The government 
will not take him after he is thirty-five; the church 
will take him until he is forty; the government 
requires an absolute sound body and will turn him 
down if he is the least defective; The church is not 
so strenuous, she leaves it to his sense of honor; 
the government requires a physical examination by 
a medical doctor and nothing is taken for granted; 
the church takes the word of the candidate as to 
his health and age. But he may be called to walk 
many miles through the country to carry the gos- 
pel and to be caught in all kinds of weather, hail 
and sleet, rain and cold, thunders and lightnings, 
in the hot beaming sun and the malarial stricken 
districts, he must go to the bedside of sufferers ill 


200 BACK TO METHODISM 


from all sorts of dreadful diseases; only a healthy 
man with a consecrated heart and true courage 
will or can do it. Are you ready to muster at the 
sound of the bugle and march at the tap of the 
drum? 

I tell you brother, if you came into the ministry 
for what you expected to get out of it materially, 
you would better had stayed out. Don’t understand 
me that the ministry means the stamp of pauper- 
ism; not at all, the holy writ says those who preach 
the gospel shall live by the gospel, and that the 
laborer is worthy of his hire, but I do mean that 
the ministry is no place to come to commercia- 
lize with the sole purpose to get money regardless 
of the consequence. 

Are you well? If so, keep so by regular habits, 
eat sufficient well balanced iood, but not tco much, 
take plenty of exercises, and use lots of clean water 
‘in and outside of the body. Don’t forget to be 
pleasant, an affable person gains many friends, 
while a grouchy being turns many away from him. 


DON'T BE: LAZY 


The ministry is no place for a lazy man. You 
must get up in the morning and get busy. Still, 
it 1s no use to be smart without the smartness is 
turned to good use. To get up early and go di- 
rectly to some store or barber shop and enter into 
some senseless debate until time to get your dinner 
then go home overload your stomach and go to the 


BACK TO METHODISM 201 


railroad station or some street corner to waste the 
balance of the day is worse than if you had laid 
in bed all day. You must not be vainly employed; 
vain employment is as bad as no employment, if not 
worse. One may not be lazy, but he may lose so 
much energy doing nothing that it amounts to the 
same thing. If the main belt is off the driving 
wheel in a factory, the steam may be exhausted 
and the driving wheel might turn with just as much 
rapidity as usual, but the machinery stands still 
and no work is done until the belt is replaced on the 
pulley that makes the mill go. Just so is wasted 
energy of non-effect. 

Do you see what I mean? I mean when you 
are not employed for the uplift of mankind, either 
engaged in bringing souls to Christ, or doing some 
social service work, as relieving the sick, visiting 
the jails, etc., you should be in your study prayfully 
meditating upon the Scriptures and such other help 
as will enable you to rightfully divide the Word 
of God to your people who come to you each Sun- 
day to hear what the Lord has to say to them 
through you out of His Word. 


DON’T CEASE TO BLOW THE TRUMPET 


Don’t cease to blow the trumpet that the Lord 
has given you, blow you gospel trumpet in season 
and out of season, whether they regard your 
preaching reasonable or unreasonable, you preach 
the Word as you find it in the Bible, some will hear 


202 BACK TO METHODISM 


you. Just as a fountain flows on, though none may 
drink from it, you preach on; or a river flows on, 
though none may bathe in its stream or sail 
upon its bosom, it runs on and_ serves the 
purpose for which it was made, you preach 
on, proclaim His mame, thus performing your 
duty. Paul may preach and appollos may 
water, but the increase comes from God. You 
must do your part preaching His Word, in prayer, 
in song, and in service for your fellowman. Preach 
not only when it is easy and convenient for you 
to do so, but when it is inconvenient end hard, 
preach when it is night as well as in the day, in 
danger as well as in safety, in prison when doomed 
to death, so to speak, as well as when free, not only 
when you have a church. The brother who is 
called to preach, if he has no church should make 
himself one. There are thousands of men and wo- 
men all around who are dying to hear the Word 
of God and to be gathered into the fold. Don’t 
wait for them to come to you, you go to them, 
preach everywhere on all occasions. Whenever 
and wherever the Lord directs you. Preach it, 
live it, so that your preaching will break men’s 
hearts and melt their eyes to tears, convince them 
of their sins, make them feel the need of Jesus 
with all long suffering and doctrine. Convince 
them that Jesus is the Christ, the only begotten 
Son of the Father, the triune God, the Maker and 
Ruler of all things. The God who out of the bosom 


BACK TO METHODISM 203 


of His love sent forth His Son into the world to 
die the shameful death of the cross to redeem men 
and breathe on them the Holy Spirit and assure 
salvation to as many as believe the preaching of 
the Word of His birth and death, the resurrection 
and ascension of King Emanuel. Don’t mind the 
worldly wise who have crept into the ministry, 
who are leaving all the essential things of spiritual 
life and growth to appear learned, reaching after 
old worn out arguments which were settled 
thousands of years age by minds far more superior 
to theirs in every particuar. They can tell you of 
the things above heaven and things beneath the 
earth, but they have never been able to learn the 
art of real preaching or to get any souls converted 
to Christ or to have them determine to live better 
lives. Some of them set themselves up as exem- 
plars in preaching, and would assay to tell you 
how to run your church and to preach. Let no fail- 
ure tell you anything. If you want to get advice 
about preaching and running your church consult 
Jesus and men who have done effective work, both 
living and dead. Preaching is to get at, get out, and 
to give out the meaning of God’s Word. No man can 
interpret God’s Word who does not know Him; 
there is but one way to know Him and that is 
through a changed heart, faith and humble prayer. 
To preach is to proclaim the gospel as a herald with 
trumpet sounding out in clarion notes the approach 
of the enemy, one who preaches the Word as 


204 BACK TO METHODISM 


Paul exhorted Timothy to preach it, must also be a 
pastor as well as a preacher. A preacher is an 
index finger on a sign board pointing out the road 
which leads to righteous living on earth and ends 
in heaven when the battles of this life are over. 

A shepherd is a gutde, a leader of his flock, who 
goes before them and protects them at the peril 
of his own life. Many shepherds have returned to 
the fold (when they did return alive) bleeding and 
wounded and torn by lions and bears and wolves 
from whence they have gone out into the desert 
to find a lost sheep. You must not only tell the 
sheep committed to your care where to go, but you 
must lead them through the valley, on the moun- 
tain, In joy, in sorrow, in health and in sickness 
and administer to them when they are crossing the 
cold stream of Jordan. 


Preach then like our fathers preached. Let us 
go back to Methodism and hold revivals, not doing 
away with the mourners’ bench. Men should be 
sorry for their sins. Remember, my friends, the 
conversion of a sinner is an act of God, justifica- 
tion is that act, whereby God forgives sin, no man 
has that power—only God. But we must hold up 
the most blessed text in the Bible and make it plain 
to the sinner that ye must be born again, we 
must not put words in his mouth, let him 
seek the Lord until ‘he finds. Him’ ‘of his 
own free will and accord, and confess Him 
with his mouth and then, having done all, 


BACK TO METHODISM 205 


you will hear the voice of Jesus say: “Well done 
good and faithful servant and enter thou into the 
joys of thy Lord.” 








Date Due 





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